LAST

As we enter our second year of retirement, we have lined up our jobs for the year. We will be making just about the same round as last year, ending up in Padre Island for the hardest part of Winter.

Just walked out to the mail box and put the last of our paperwork in the mail box and raised the flag.

Yup, we had a great time last year and we wanna’ do er’ all over again !

The jobs are direct deposit to our bank and our campsites are paid for. It don’t get much better than that !

To help us to keep up with our “road” friends we run FOURSQUARE, TWITTER, SKYPE and use FACEBOOK & My Space, as well as post to this blog.

 Four Square Link

Twitter Link

Face Book Link

My Space Link

Skype Link

Mountainborn Chronicles Link

Four Square is a small cell phone based program that lets friends keep up with where each other are . Should they get near each other and want to visit it makes it simple.

Our Twitter is set up to update our Four square and our face book.

Face book and My Space are both social networking websites.

Skype allows us to telephone, internet voip ( voice over internet protocol ) call or text with our friends in which ever mode is most comfortable for them.

The video chat for free is one of Skype’s features that we use the most. It is pretty cool to fire up the laptop and the whole room of people can join in on a visit !

So there we are, out on the road somewhere, sitting in our living room. The Grand kids are sitting in their living room back home. And, we can chat comfortably and casually with each other. It is the BoMb !

CHARGING

First things first ! During the un Winterizing of Harm’s Weigh, there is a lengthy list of things to check while charging the battery’s. There is a back up battery with an electronic isolator, but they haven’t been ran or charged since Jugfest 09’.

 

The registration and insurance data is all up to date.

The mooring cover is off to reveal evidence of spiders, birds and other critters.

A quick check of the 35 gallon live well revealed a couple of mussel shells that had been huffed up by catfish. They gotta’ go !

Navigational electronics and marine radio checked out.

Tackle box in place.

200 feet of river anchor and chain flaked down.

Extra large fish handling gear stowed.

Enough life jackets for everybody or we don’t move !

 

Extra prop, lock nut and floating wrench, along with marine tool kit, flare gun and first aid kit.

LAKE ! We gotter’ on our minds ! Hope we see you at Jugfest 2010 !

STRAPPED

After the chainsaw tune up and service, Betty and I cut a little jag of Red Oak. It doesn’t burn as hot as other woods but it is easy to split and that’s just the ticket at Jugfest ! We loaded part of the wood on the ugly little trailer to carry to the lake so we would have firewood until we had a chance to cut more over there. We loaded it on the front of the trailer because it’s likely going to be one of the heaviest items on the trailer. Here is a look:

As you can see, the Red Oak was still standing but had been killed by a blight that passed through here a year or so ago. It will make good, easy and colorful fires for our evening visits around the campfire.

Loaded the bait traps, live box and jugs next.

Now this is some serious, “old school”, redneckin’ goin’ on here !

I dunno’ how the ol’ timers did it, but it seems to take an inordinately high number of tarp straps, wal mart vegetable crates, old antifreeze jugs and milk crates for me to get everything to the lake ! He, he, the little Ugly trailer still ain’t half loaded yet. And, I may have to go out to the highway to search along the shoulder for more tarp straps !

FIRE

When we first got back home from Padre Island it was sometimes cool enough for an occasional fire. Since we didn’t have any rich pine or kindling split, we started up the pellet stove. It usually takes a few hours to get the house warm enough that we start opening up windows to air things out. This time it was so nice outside we were able to open up the house right away for a good airing out.

There have been brief spells of cold passing through, hey it’s Spring, ain’t it, and Betty wanted a real fire. You know, hardwood burning in the wood stove. Luckily I had been up on the roof and cleaned the chimney out before we hit the road last year. So all that was needed was to split some kindling and a little rich pine and whomp ! There it was !

It is a mild, bright Easter Morning here, and You know Betty has a fire. The doors and windows are open, but Betty has a fire. Yesterday she started talkin’ bout’ goin’ to cut a jag’ of firewood ! So, I checked the wood shed and sure nuff’, she’s done gone and burnt up most nearly all of the wood !

I had planned to  carry some of that wood over to the lake for our Jugfest campfire pickin’ and Grinnin’ sessions. He, he, that ain’t gona’ happen !

I’ll be a’ carryin’ the chainsaw instead !

Well, I went out to the tool shed and dug out the chainsaw, serviced it and mixed up some saw gas for it.

Now, i’ll just touch up that cutting chain with the saw file a bit,

 

Lube the roller tip,

and wer’e ready for business !

GROWEDUP

A year has past, since the little, ugly, home made, utility trailer has untracked from it's place out in the pasture. Uglier than a unpainted outhouse, the little trailer has made, oh, geze, I dunno' how many trips to the lake. Three years ago we replaced the wheel bearings, seals and all of the tires, including the spare.
Some of last years Jugfesters may remember it. It sat near the electrical outlets so we could hook up the small refrigerator and deepfreeze that sat on it.

Since we are closer than everybody else, we think we should help with stuff like extra refrigerator and freezer space. Then, we hope also, that we have enough fresh catfish fillets that we will need extra space to keep them until our next fish fry.

I walked out in the pasture to kick the tires this afternoon, and found a flat tire that aired up easily. So, I checked the other tires for correct pressure. Added some to each of them.

The honeysuckle had grown up through the tailgate. The cows had eaten all of the leaves off but the vines were still there. The oak tree’s had cleverly stored away a few of their finest brown leaves in it. Cows had been rubbing on it, but hadn’t rolled the flat tire off of it’s wheel beads. Here is a look, after I got it pulled out of the pasture. Well, actually, it wasn’t all that simple. I got stuck. Had to lock the hubs on the 4x4 and spin a bit. It had rained here overnight.

A rake, a shovel and a water hose quickly got stuff a’ goin’ our way !

A quick check of the gear box on the tongue showed that the stabilizer jack crank handle and all of the tie down ratchet’s and stuff hadn’t “walked off’.

Now it sits near the back door of the house, ramp down, stabilizer jacks deployed and wheels chocked. The electric drop cord is there and trailer is ready for Betty to tell me when it is time to load the freezer and refrigerator and hook them up to freeze and chill.

It is nigh’ onto time fer’ fishin’, we got it on our minds.

QUICKTRIP

There is a geocache there, right near the famous golden driller statue. He stands head and shoulders above a large oil well derrick. Here is a look.

There were lots of vehicles there when we pulled into the parking lot to get the geocache, and, plenty of muggles too.

We decided to overnight on the parking lot after talking to the roving security patrol. Soon we were set up to overnight on the quicktrip center of the fairgrounds in Tulsa Oklahoma. Here is a look at 

our campsite. All asphalt and lit up like daylight all night long. That night we had to pull all of the blinds it was so bright.

  It didn’t take long to discover that the reason for all of the vehicles in the parking lot was because of a RV show. Then, it wasn’t long before we were rubber necking all of the various manufacturer’s latest offerings  for 2010 and even 2011.

Though they were flashy looking with graphics and multiple slides, mostly their quality couldn’t hold a candle to our Ollie out in the parking lot.

TANKED

Prices of diesel fuel vary wildly across our nation, mostly because of each State’s spin on how it is taxed. Where we host the campground up in Colorado, the fuel is often times as much as .25 cents per. gallon cheaper than in surrounding states, and is usually cheaper than gasoline. Our neighboring State, Oklahoma, eleven miles away, seems to usually  be .15 cents per gallon less than here in Arkansas.

We chose to be pro active about that, and installed a 60 gallon, gravity flow, hidden in the aluminum tool box, fuel tank. This allows us to search the internet along our route for the cheapest fuel prices and purchase there.  While driving past the higher priced fuel stops because of our extended range that the extra fuel capacity gives us.

With the normal pickup trucks fuel tank size of, say 20 gallons, you could potentially save $5. at a .25 cent per gallon price reduction. However if you can buy 100 gallons of fuel because of a larger tank capacity, your savings jumps to $25.

It doesn’t take long for that to add up over a year’s traveling. Here is a look at our tank set up.

 

The tank is below the top of the pickup bed, should we want to put a bed cover on the truck.

The fill port has a lockable cap and the tool box it is in can also be locked. I like the idea that there is a fuel gauge in the tank. The dashboard fuel gauge also works as well.

 Lakeside Metal Fabrication in Mena, Arkansas, owner Johnny Herring is doing the install for us. He is the one that made our cool generator cover for the front of our Ollie.

  There is no fuel pump required, there is instead, a check valve where the auxiliary tank ties into your regular fuel tank’s fill up line. Check valve ? Here is a quick video look: