WORKED UP A MORNING SWEAT PLANTING A FEW CACTUS

Not once since owning our Triple E Commander Motorhome did my mind think to ask itself what that vertical split in our rig’s dash could mean.  Never once did it clue in there must be a logical reason for that line & why wasn’t the dash made in one piece like most all other other RV’s.  My mind may inquisitively ask itself many questions about numerous things during the course of any given day but when it comes to mechanical things my brains department door has a simple sign on it saying…..’Duh’.  So if your rig has a split in the dash like in the photo below then probably your driver’s side dash lifts up for easy access behind your dash panel.  Our rig was built in Winkler Manitoba mainly by Amish folks & we were told they often have great ideas & those ideas are many times incorporated into the coaches.  Triple E in Winkler no longer builds Class A Motorhomes & in 2008 went exclusively into LEISURE TRAVEL VANS.  A reader last week sent in this link to Triple E’s upcoming 50th anniversary. 50 YEARS ON THE ROAD.

NEVER ONCE DID MY MIND ASK ITSELF WHY THE DASH WAS SPLIT IN THE MIDDLE

 

THAT’S A GAMBLES QUAIL ON THE LEFT & WE HAVE THEM IN OUR BACK YARD EVERY DAY

Kelly headed off for Wickenburg’s Safeway store about 9 so Pheebs & I missed our desert walk but no matter because I busied myself planting 3 large cactus plants we had sitting here in pots since last winter & that took a lot of walking around the property.  By 10 I was sweating to the point I had to retreat into the coolness of the house.  Last week we had heaters going & this week it is fans.  Sounds like next week we will be back to heaters again. 

DIGGING IN 1 OF 3 CACTUS PLANTS THIS MORNING

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD BRAVES THURSDAYS COOLER WINDS TO READ HER BOOK OUTSIDE

And another informative post from the folks over at ‘On The Road Of Retirement.’ Be sure to check out 25 ESSENTIAL ITEMS ALL RV'S MUST HAVE. 

<<< CONTESSA,THIS IS THE ‘OATMEAL & ALOE SHAMPOO WE USED THURSDAY FOR PHEEBS BATH

Relaxing afternoon as I sat for awhile on our front porch with my Kindle.  Over the years I have read many, many, books on the First & Second World Wars but had never read anything by a Vietnam Veteran so today I started a book called ‘A Never Ending Battle’.  Am finding it informative as well as personable as the young man who experienced his time there is basically the same age I am & many of his fears & concerns at that age & era back in 1968 I can relate too.  Have often thought how fortunate I & many of my friends were that we were born on the north side of the Canada/U.S. border rather than the south side of the Canada/U.S. border.

THIS IS BASICALLY THE CENTER OF CONGRESS WITH A CLASSY LITTLE MOTEL, AN OLD WEST GROCERY STORE, COUPLE SMALL SHOPS, A GARAGE & A FOUR STAR EATERY ALL IN A LINE ALONG HIGHWAY 71…ONLY 2 COMMERCIAL SHOPS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD BEING THE POST OFFICE & LAUNDROMAT

CONGRESS LAUNDROMAT WHICH IS ACTUALLY FOR SALE

CONGRESS GARAGE & YOU CAN SEE THE REAR END OF OUR BIG EEE STICKING OUT

NICHOLS WEST IS A 4 STAR EATERY RIGHT NEXT TO THE CONGRESS GARAGE ON THE RIGHT

A year ago right now we were in Slab City California at Solar Mike’s with our troublesome inverter problem.  Kelly & I both became sick while there & had to return to Congress with a temporary inverter on board while our inverter was being fixed over in Temecula.  We returned to the Slabs about a week later & Mike re-installed our repaired inverter which has been working fine ever since.  From the Slabs we headed East & spent a few days in the Kofa Mountains south of Quartzsite.  We still haven’t decided where or when we’ll head out on our first side trip of the winter.  Could it be that we are just feeling to darned comfortable where we are at the moment to go anywhere else………..

TOOK THIS ‘SAGUARO CACTUS MOON’ PHOTO FROM MY BEDROOM WINDOW LATE THIS AFTERNOON

GROANER’S CORNER:(( New Words For 2016: 

Chairdrobe (n.): piling clothes on a chair in place of a closet or dresser.

Epiphanot (n.): an idea that seems like an amazing insight to the conceiver but is in fact pointless, mundane, stupid, or incorrect.

Internest (n.): the cocoon of blankets and pillows you gather around yourself while spending long periods of time on the Internet.

Textpectation (n.): the anticipation felt when waiting for a response to a text.

Unkeyboardinated (adj.): when you’re unable to type without repeatedly making mistakes.

WELL WE CERTAINLY LEARNED SOMETHING NEW ABOUT OUR MOTORHOME TODAY

OUR MOTORHOME DASH AS WE KNOW IT….. BUT IT HARBORS A SURPRISE

WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite cool overnight temperatures I could feel a touch of warmth in the air at 6 a.m. this morning & that meant we were going to have us a warm day.  And we did.  While Kelly took Pheebs for a walk I raked up more Mesquite beans & by 8 I was already in short sleeves. 

Soon as Pheebs & Kelly were back doggy & I hopped into the Jeep & headed for the nearby desert.  Parked outside of the gate near Tenderfoot Road & walked in from there.  Figured if I headed in one direction for half an hour then back that would give me an hour of walking which I felt was about right for my legs at this point.  Don't want to overdo it then quit walking.   By 10 the Sun was already burning holes through my shirt but how nice to feel that warmness after the cold rainy & wind driven days we had earlier in the week. 

THIS IS ONE OF 2 GATES THAT GIVE US ACCESS TO THE DESERT NEAR OUR HOUSE

 

AERIAL VIEW OF BOGATA CANYON IN SOUTHERN UTAH ON THE LEFT……??

 

NOPE THAT WASN’T BOGATA CANYON IN UTAH, JUST A NORMAL WATER CARVED RUT IN THE ROADWAY….BIRD’S NEST IN A PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS ON RIGHT

THIS IS VERY TYPICAL OF THE DESERT FLOOR IN THESE HERE PARTS

Didn't encounter anything on our walk except for a couple small birds flitting about.  No deer, no cows, no rabbits, & most best of all no people.  Ground is a hard sandy gravel with varying sizes of small stones, rocks, & boulders.  Mainly cactus & Mesquite shrubs along with Palo Verde & Mesquite trees.  A few Yuccas here & there.

THE DESERT FLOOR IS CRISS-CROSSED WITH SANDY & ROCK STREWN DRY WASHES WHICH ARE SAFE TO WALK IN UNLESS IT’S MONSOON SEASON WHEN THEY BECOME RAGING TORRENTS OF WATER

  

COULD THIS BE AN AERIAL VIEW OF A LARGE VOLCANIC CRATER IN NORTHERN ARIZONA?  NAWWWW, YOU KNOW ME BETTER THAN THAT BY NOW…….JUST AN ANT HILL BELOW

 

THOSE YUCCA BLADES ARE DAGGER SHARP 

After our desert walk Pheebs & I drove a short mile into Congress.  I remember a reader had mentioned last week or so about maybe taking some photos of buildings around Congress so that’s what we did.  An easy task mind you seeing how there are very few buildings in Congress.  I’ll post the 3 newest buildings first then a few more older buildings over the next couple nights.

I’M GUESSING CONGRESS’S POST OFFICE MAY JUST BE THE NEWEST BUILDING IN TOWN

THE FAMILY DOLLAR & GAS STATION STAND AT THE JUNCTION OF HIGHWAYS 71 & 89

YEP, THIS HERE’S WHERE WE GET OUR GAS ALRIGHT

CONGRESS ONLY HAS ONE MAIN INTERSECTION & THIS IS IT….I’M ON HIGHWAY 71 FACING EAST & ABOUT TO CROSS 89 ….TURN LEFT & HEAD FOR PRESCOTT OR TURN RIGHT TO WICKENBURG

Pheebs & I were home about 11 & an hour later we figured it was warm enough to give Pheebs a nice doggy oatmeal shampoo bath.  Kelly did most of the shampooing while I did most of the rinsing & Pheebs did most of the complaining.  Between the 3 of us we soon had the job done & now Pheebs smells like nice freshly baked oatmeal cookie & that just makes her a whole lot extra snugly:))

After Pheebs bath we decided to take a drive down to the Congress Garage to see if our Motorhome was finished & ready to be picked up.  It was & boy were we in for a pleasant surprise or two.

Little did we know that with the removal of one small Robertson screw directly above the speedometer & out of sight our whole drivers side dash top lifted right up & folded back on hinges.  And there as easy as can be was our flasher unit as well as easy access to all instruments in our dash panel including radio, back up camera, & well, just everything.  Makes me wonder now if all Motorhomes have that easy access feature to the back of their dash panels.  But here’s my question, how did that guy know there was a tiny hidden screw in the dash.  It’s not like they would get a lot of Canadian made Triple E Commander Motorhomes in that little garage in Congress Arizona.

OUR FLASHER UNIT IS AT EXTREME LEFT & YOU CAN SEE THE 2 DASH LID HINGES IN THIS PHOTO AS WELL

THE CONGRESS GARAGE GUY TAPED THE FLASHER UNIT DOWN

WEIRD OR WHAT!! 

THE SINGLE SCREW HOLDING DOWN THE DASH IS LOCATED DIRECTLY BEHIND THAT YELLOW LEVELER BUBBLE ABOVE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER

The fella also read the codes which caused the engine light to come on & again it was the same 2 sensors that have caused the engine light to come on before.  Sensor Bank numbers PO131 & PO151.  Both those sensors are on either side of the exhaust somewhere.  I’m thinking they are reading the exhaust emissions then telling the rig’s computer to change it’s fuel mixture or something causing the mixture to run too lean or whatever which results in a sudden loss of power.  Anyway the engine light is out for now & if we choose to take a less mountainous way home in March we just might be alright.

WHO KNEW EH…………….

And speaking of the Congress Garage here is a good news/bad news scenario.  First the good news……when Kelly asked the fella how much our bill was today he said, ‘oh give me 20 bucks.  What!!  And that included the flasher unit.  Any other garage & our bill today would have been somewhere around a hundred + dollars probably.  Just goes to show how business is still done out here in a few of these little wayward tumble down towns along Arizona’s long & dusty trails.  But here’s the bad news…………….the Congress Garage is closing at the end of April.  The 2 fellas running it are both retiring & that will be the end of a garage in Congress Arizona unless they can find someone to take it over………….:(( 

IT’S ALRIGHT PHEEBS WE DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS BATH THING AGAIN FOR AWHILE

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Nature abhors a vacuum, but not as much as a cat does.

- Q: What do you call an Amish guy with his hand in a horse’s mouth…………..A mechanic.

- Q: Why did the chicken go to the séance?…………To get to the other side.

- A zookeeper is ordering new animals. As he fills out the forms, he types “two mongeese.” That doesn’t look right, so he tries “two mongoose,” then “two mongooses.” Giving up, he types, “One mongoose, and while you’re at it, send another one.”

- Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through deep snow.

- People in sleeping bags are the soft tacos of the bear world.