Thursday, March 27, 2014

ANSWERING SOME QUESTIONS, A FEW EXPLANATIONS, & SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

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After a gusty wind & cloud shrouded cooler day Wednesday we woke up to clear blue sunny skies this morning with light winds from the North-West.  Always nice to step out in the early morn & see a sky full of shimmering stars.  Planet Venus & a crescent Moon were very prominent low in the South-east side by side.  The Moon and Venus rank as the brightest and second-brightest celestial bodies in the nighttime sky.

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<<< PHOTO TAKEN FROM MY BEDROOM WINDOW OF THIS MORNINGS CRESCENT MOON & PLANET VENUS TO THE RIGHT

Took Pheebs big comfy bench bed out of the Jeep & replaced it with our rear seat this morning.  Also put the tow bar back on the Jeep & packed some stuff in behind the seats.  A few more things into the Winnie Wagon.  Packing up to go on a trip whether for a few days or a few months is always kind of a nice low key excitement for me.  Just the fact I know we are going somewhere puts an extra spring in my step.  Kinda like getting the maps out & plotting a route.  Fun stuff:))

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Our cell phone mysteriously quit working Wednesday.  Kelly spent all morning with Skype calls here & there trying to find out the problem.  It seems Bell Telephone in Canada dropped their partnership with T-Mobile yesterday.  Our phone generally works off AT&T towers but here at our Congress house the only tower we accessed close by was T-Mobile.   So now our phone is dead in the water.  Kelly finally did find a solution but we will have to wait a couple days until another cell phone arrives from T-Mobile itself.  She sure spent a lot of time on Skype this morning getting all our phone stuff straightened out.  Only thing I managed to get straightened out today was me in my recliner.  This technical age for the most part is great but there always seems to be so many glitches along the way.

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In Wednesday’s post I said the following:  “How unlike our other 6 years when we would spend the entire winter boondocking in our 33’ Class A Damon Challenger & got along just fine”.  A reader in our Shout Box checked me on that statement saying, “you spent a lot of years ranch sitting near Bisbee not boondocking”.  First, I should have worded my initial statement better.  Without going back & looking things up I’m guessing we Ranch sat in 09, 2010, 2011, & 2012.  Four years averaging maybe 2.5 months a season.  Rest of our time was spent boondocking from Fall of 07 to Spring of 2012.  Though technically not boondocking at the Ranch because we had electric & water does not take away from the fact we spent our entire RVing time from day one in the Fall of 2006 right up to the Spring of 2012 living in our rig while Snow Birding in the South-West.  And in Thursday’s post it was the smaller space in our Class C I was referring too.  I should have remembered, referred to, & separated our time at the Ranch as RV Park living & not full blown boondocking.    But for someone to say, “you spent a lot of years ranch sitting near Bisbee not boondocking” is partially incorrect as well.  Whether in an RV Park or Boondocking, a small space is a small space & that was the gist of my post.

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Bob over at the THE CARETAKER CHRONICLES & Paul from R SANITY RV ADVENTURES in comments on my Wednesday post wondered whether that Winnebago Destination was really on a Peterbilt frame.  All’s I can say is it had the ‘Peterbuilt’ logo embedded on the front of the coach so from that I was assuming it’s a Peterbilt (truck) frame.  Also has the ‘Workhorse’ emblem as well so maybe it was somehow a combination of both.  Definitely a Chevy gas engine for sure.  To complicate things further the Destinations manual said UFO chassis.  So, confusion is the order of the day here about the chassis thing.  If the numbers had worked out in our favor this week we would probably have grabbed this coach.  We read & researched this type of Winnebago & as with any rig there were some issues but overall we found people who had these rear end Winnebago Destinations & Latitudes loved them.  Nowhere did we read, as some have suggested about the engine being too small for the coach etc.  And no, we do not have any plans whatsoever in buying a diesel coach……………….

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Now, to clear up a few other comment things.  In deciding to go back to a Class A all’s we had to do was reverse our pros & cons about going from bigger to smaller to going from smaller to bigger.  People’s needs, circumstances, & priorities change.  Some folks go with change as it happens while others remain steadfast with where they are & what they have.  Kelly & I have always been of the belief if one has the desire & means to make changes then do so.  After all, that is how & why we ultimately arrived at the Snow Bird lifestyle.  It is precisely why we spend our winters where we do.  Had we not thought that way even years ago we would still just be sitting in our Bayfield house every winter forlornly looking out our frosted windows complaining profusely about the miserable cold & stormy weather outside like every other poor soul has had to do this winter.  Sitting in a house all winter in Canada or the Northern States to me makes no sense if, & I emphasize IF one has the financial means, are free of work commitments, & are currently in good enough health to head south into warmer healthier climates………..then why not.

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We sold our Damon Class A Motorhome for several reasons last year.  It was 10 years old & we had it for 6 of those years.  It treated us very well in those 6 years but we didn’t want to wait until we got ourselves into an ongoing fix & repair cycle at some point as inevitably happens with aging vehicles.  I am not mechanically inclined & have no interest whatsoever in trying to fix this, that, or the other little thing.  I have zero interest in keeping any kind of a vehicle for 10, 20, or 30+ years unless it was some kind of antique hobby I enjoyed.  Give me the challenge & excitement of a newer & different vehicle any day as opposed to same old, same old, same old.  DSC_0010

Getting back to what I was originally talking about let me say that after buying our Congress house we very contentedly busied ourselves last winter totally enjoying our time working away fixing things up.  Thought to ourselves, ‘well now that we have the house we won’t be traveling as much’ & that was true last winter.  That is how we felt.  We were focused on the house.  But that was last winter & in our lives things have a habit of changing & thank heavens they do.  Remember, I am not a fan of same old-same old. 

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With the thought in our heads a year ago about not traveling as much we made the decision at the time to downsize our RV.   Coupling that with our aging Damon we figured it was the right time to make the change which it was……. except for one thing & here is where we made our mistake.  Yes, we here at the Bayfield Bunch, unlike some, do admit our mistakes.   We should have stuck with a Class A instead of switching to a Class C.  Simple as that.   Nothing wrong whatsoever with Class C’s & they have many pros but we have learned in this past year a Class C no matter how hard we tried to adapt, just was not the best vehicle suited to our particular needs.   Remember, every one of us is different & what works great for one person or couple does not necessarily work great for the next person or couple.  It’s important to remember that.  And that is precisely why some of us come south for the winter while others chose to stay in the North.  Why some are Snow Birds, some are Full Timers, some prefer RV Parks & some prefer Boondocking.  Think of what a crowded mess this RV world would be if we all thought alike eh.

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In a rather rambling round-a-bout way that brings me back around to my previous thoughts.  Either make the best of what you have & perhaps not be happily satisfied or make the effort to change what it is that is not feeling right about your situation.   Thus our decision to put ourselves back into a roomier Class A Motorhome again at some point in the not to distant future.  Is there a chance we could be making another mistake??  Is there a chance you could walk out of your house & slip on a banana peeling??  If you think not then you are the people out here with that so called perfect Motorhome………….10-4:))

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And a reminder to folks looking for any of my ‘Older’ or ‘Newer’ posts…..scroll down to the bottom & look for the pink bar with the word ‘Home’ in the center of it.’  Hover your mouse either on the left or right side of that word for ‘Older’ or ‘Newer’.  I don’t know why this new template won’t visibly display the words openly!!

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GROANER’S CORNER:((  A little boy opened the big family bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found", the boy called out." What have you got there, dear?" With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's underwear

26 comments:

  1. in your round about way you explained your thoughts very well!
    change is a good thing and if it is for the best then go for it!!

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  2. Well let me see - we had a Class B then went to a fifth wheel, then a different fifth wheel, then a motorhome, then to a fifth wheel which we are keeping but are now going to travel in a travel trailer. Like you said, change is good. Thank goodness.

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  3. Either make the best of what you have & perhaps not be happily satisfied or make the effort to change what it is that is not feeling right about your situation.

    Excellent advice! It's also nice to experiment with different things.

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  4. I say, do what you want and what you feel you need to do. Satisfy yourselves! Don't worry about explaining your decisions to others that won't understand anyway and truthfully - it is none of their business! They just like to make a fuss for various reasons. Perhaps they are so set in their ways that they can't bring themselves to make a change. You only live once so live it happily!!!

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  5. Forgot to say I love the pigeon photo! Beautiful!

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  6. Al, they told me at La Mesa RV that Workhorse and their chassis were no longer being made..... The rear gas pushers had more than their fair share of problems as well.... I went all over La Mesa's lot and there were no gas motorhomes unless they had your Ford V10 chassis.... So if you do get serious about the rear gas workhorse, please do a bunch of research.....

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  7. Wow what a great post, it had feelings.
    Hope my comments helped you get in the right frame of mind for this creative effort. My 30 year old car and 20 year old RV are what I have in this life I live. Guess I should have bought a lotto ticket along the way.

    Enjoyed the Moon and Venus pic, rare to catch them like that.
    Great bird closeup also.

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  8. We would love to have a Class A Foretravel, no longer than 36', but the thought of actually locating one we want(used), selling the Lazy Daze, moving all our junk into a new rig, etc, just sounds like too much trouble to us. I commend you guys for having the gumption to do what pleases you! Life is way too short.
    Gayle

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  9. We feel that change is good for us, keeps us on our toes. Some people are not comfortable with change or choose not to change for their own reasons. But we all need to do what is best for each of us so keep on doing what is best for the Bayfields. Becki

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  10. Goodness, Al, you sound like some politician doing all that explaining. You certainly don't have to explain yourself to me. Change is good! Fun too! Do what you want and the heck with trying to convince someone why.

    Has the snow melted in Bayfield? We just arrived in Ohio and although the grass isn't green yet, the snow is gone-for now.

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  11. Our temps are at least above the freezing mark, so the snow is mostly gone, depending on where you are and how much you got. We'll not talk about the Maritimes...
    Now you've got me wondering about that "Peterbuilt" thing. When Workhorse came out with the UFO program, ("Universal Floorplan Option", by the way) there was never any mention of partnering with Peterbuilt. Did someone simply put a sticker on there?
    I might do a couple internet searches, but of course, do we really care?

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  12. I'm the "queen" of change. Shame on anyone that chastised you for it. I think we change our thoughts and ideas as time goes along. It doesn't matter what it is we change whether it's the RV, house or likes and dislikes. Change is definitely good. It gives you something to do and keeps that old mind working. Change is downright fun so go on enjoying what you're doing and if you don't like it afterwards, CHANGE IT.

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  13. Would love to see stars & the moon in the early morning rather than clouds! I did hear three owls early this morning which was cool. Do the research & make the best decision for you & Kelly!

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  14. Both the Older and Newer Posts show up on either side of Home in the footer (at least for me). I never thought the cowboy hat fit well enough in the Class C's so I'm certainly glad you're moving back up to a Class A! Looking forward to seeing how you make it your own :-).

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  15. Friends once said to us, "you guys change RV's more often than you change your underwear." :)))

    I'm all for change and excitement!

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  16. The change sounds great get to try them all out and enjoying the things you like.
    We might too if we have the means to do it, from a tent trailer, class B , class c, now our class A, that just keeps on running.
    Hope that deal works out for you with that coach, looks amazing!

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  17. Couldn't agree more with you about both the seemingly never ending technical glitches with all the electronic "stuff" and with the need to be honest, admit mistakes and do what you need to do to fix them. You tried it, you gave it a fair shot, you didn't like it, you learned something about yourselves and you are off to another rig. Good for you!

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  18. That photo of Kelly is gorgeous!!!

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  19. We bought our motorhome over 13 years ago and have lived in it since day one. You've had several and made changes. The good thing is we both recognize our own wants and our own priorities. I've never felt the need to justify our life... in any of it's many facets... to anyone. I don't think I'd call your changes "mistakes".... just learning experiences and new adventures.

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  20. Too funny, Al. You just hit on the pros and cons of lots of readers....everyone has an opinion!! Sometimes good information and sometimes a pain in the patottie! Enjoy.

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  21. In regards to the pink bar at the bottom of the page, you might try changing the color of the "Newer Posts". It make be the same color as the bar thus you wouldn't be able to see it.

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  22. Seems most long time RVers change their minds about what is the "perfect" RV over time. One works for a while and then our needs change. So what's wrong with that? Over the last 22 years I've lived in just about everything you can name from a Vega, van, cab-over, trailer, bus, motorhome and 5th-wheel. They've gotten bigger over time and now I think of downsizing. It's just a matter of choice.

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  23. Ha! Al, you are such a deep thinker, and I am not. I hope our paths cross when I am in Arizona next winter. Probably won't be a meeting of the minds, but I've got a few questions for you. ;)

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  24. Change is the "salt" of life.
    That's how we live. There is always something new in the making.
    There are people who NEVER could live that way of life and many will shake their heads, but that is OK.
    We all are different, as you already pointed out.
    No one can make decisions for you -but you yourself.
    I am looking forward to see how your future rig will turn out.

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