A LONG DAY WITH A LOT OF READING & A LOT OF MUSIC LISTENING…..WE ARE SOOOO READY TO MOVE ON

GUESS THIS KINDA SUMS UP OUR SUNDAY

I was heartened to see a starry sky when I had Pheebs out about 5:30 this morning.  Soon as old Sol broached the horizon we had our big windshield curtains open to let his warming beams flood into our coach.  Sat on our reclining couch reading with the warmth of the sun on my outstretched legs.  Thought to myself, ‘I’m just going to sit right here all day’.  I didn’t.

<<< AN ONTARIO REST STOP AREA FLOWER

One small half eaten cold piece of pizza remained from Saturday so I ate it & washed it down with a nice hot bowl of oatmeal.  Traffic on highway 32 had quieted right down.  It was Sunday morning in a small town.  We are actually on a service road about a hundred yards from the highway.  With nothing much to do Kelly pulled out the rigs manuals & we began discovering some additional features on our rig we didn’t know we had or if we did know we had forgotten about them.  Heating our hot water tank without propane while driving was one of them.  Can also heat the rear of the coach while driving & discovered a dash switch that allows radio to be played when the engine is off.  No need to switch the key to auxiliary.  We have quite a list of questions compiled for the folks here at Triple E when we get in the service bay Monday.  All things being maybe equal we may even leave here a snort smarter than when we got here.  But then there’s that age related memory lapse thing now.  Darn!!

KIND OF A SLEEPY DAY AROUND OUR HOUSE TODAY

It was 10:30 before we all piled out of the rig for our morning walk.  If not for the wind we could have had a nice day but that biting cold prairie wind just went right through us.  Maybe folks out here say, ‘ya but it’s a dry cold wind’.  Dry or damp cold is what cold is.  Period.  I’ll be glad when I can once again start my complaining about it being too hot.  I only did half our walk & turned back.  Kelly & Pheebs went all the way around the long windy block.  Heartily hardy travelers they are.  On the flip side, with today’s big bright Sun shining through our windows it was so nice & toasty in the rig all day.  We was whoppingly warm:))

WHAT A TREAT IT IS HAVING CENTRAL VAC

Let’s see if I can clear up a little bit of confusion regarding our coaches heating problem.  We have 2 furnaces, one for the front of the coach & one for the back.  Rear furnace works fine but the front furnace will only blow cold air at the moment.  Could be a simple thermostat problem or maybe something needs a part replaced.  In our Damon we never used the rig’s furnace because we had a Legacy Blue Flame heater installed in Quartzsite back in 08.  Much more efficient than an RV’s furnace.  Used that Blue Flame heater while boondocking a lot in those earlier years.  We do have the thermostatically controlled Blue Flame heater with us but it is not plumbed into our propane.  We use it in our Congress house during the winters.  Not boondocking nearly as much as we once did so we’re not sure we want to go to the expense of having the Legacy Blue Flame installed in the Big EEE.  Our coach, built in Canada is very well insulated & we think we’ll be just fine with our duel furnaces for the shorter boondocking periods we are into now.

<<< JUST A COUPLE PARKING LOT LIGHTS IN DRYDEN ONTARIO A FEW NIGHT’S AGO

Have had a few emails coming in as of late inquiring about the camera/cameras I use.  I do have all that info on my side bar to the right down towards the bottom of the column but I will share my response to one reader who inquired about what kind of a camera to buy.  In part I said….."Equally as important as a good camera is a reasonably good photo editing program & I recommend Google's Picasa 3.9.  It's a free download & is the program I have used for years.  Probably the most user friendly photo editing program out there.  Many times what the eye sees cannot be accurately reproduced by even the best cameras & that is where a photo editing program comes in.  You can tweak the colors, contrast, saturation, & lighting as close to possible what your eyes saw in the first place.  Depending on your level of interest is the deciding factor what kind of camera to buy.  If seriously interested & creatively inclined settle for nothing less than a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera (DSLR)  Both Nikon & Canon make excellent DSLR's.  They are bigger & bulkier but it is all part of the overall picture quality.  If just a casual interest for a few pics now & then I would recommend any of the excellent Point & Shoot cameras.  Lots of makes & models to choose from.  One tip...if you do decide on a point & shoot camera make sure it has a 'viewfinder.'  Much easier to put the camera up to your eye to compose a photo than holding it out at arm's length on a bright sunny day squinting to see an image on the camera's screen.  I carry a point & shoot on my belt wherever I go & in Friday's post the photo of me in my yellow rain coat gassing up the rig was a selfie taken with my Canon SX210 point & shoot”.  This camera is the only one I have without a viewfinder & needless to say it is my least favorite.

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Despite our poor internet connection I have been able to get onto our own blogsite a few times.  Noticed we have a new blog follower.  We welcome LESLIE ALPEN to our travels.  You may need your winter coat right now Leslie but hang on, we’re headed for warmer weather shortly:))  And it seems someone has stolen SANDI' WHEATON'S small A-Frame pop-up trailer in Halifax Nova Scotia.  And no it is not our Jeep towing the stolen trailer in her picture…………:))

It has been my Kindle that has kept me from going bonkers these last couple days just sitting here in the rig.  My nose has been buried in it for hours at a time.  Takes me back to my book reading days of long ago.  I would get into a book & just stick with it until it was done then right into another book & another & another.  I’m already over half way through the nearly 800 pages of ‘Shakey’, Neil Young’s biography. 

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We have our fingers crossed everything goes well in the morning & we can maybe get back on the road sometime Monday afternoon.  Of course we are well aware how Murphy’s Law loves thwarting thoughts like that.  As you can imagine we are anxious to make fast tracks west to Roleau Saskatchewan where I hope to drop in to see the set of Corner Gas.  It won’t be a long stop, maybe only a few minutes or half an hour.  Just want to get some photos & maybe see the inside of ‘The Ruby & Gas Station’ where the majority of filming was done.  From there we will point the Big EEE’s nose south & make even more fast tracks for the border & on down to Custer South Dakota.  How long we stay there will depend on the weather.  I’m thinking we should be in Utah the week after this coming week.  Sooooo looking forward to warmer weather, deserts, mountains, canyons, forests, cactus & just about everything else the great South-West has to offer………………:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  When I go to casinos, the most ridiculous sign I see is the one that says: "If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER."  I thought about it for a moment and dialed the number. When they answered I said, "I have an ace and a six. The dealer has a seven. What do I do?"