Thankful

I have so many wonderful things to be grateful for.

24 more hours and I can say I survived August!

Last August while traveling to my friends' wedding in Michigan, I had to stop on the side of the road to fix my rig. The heat and humidity was awful.  When I got back in my rig, I was confused and lethargic. I had to stop and fix the rig again. It was a crazy day, that was taking its toll on me.

It's a miracle I made it to the campground. I didn't realize I was suffering from heat stroke.

Somehow I survived, but for weeks, I was just plain weak.

This year I have been drinking pure Coconut Water every day. It has helped me tremendously in dealing with the heat. It's the perfect hydration for the body.

But it's easy to forget.

The problem is it's hard for a person to realize they are suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke. It's accompanied by confusion! But left untreated it can affect many critical body organs.

Today I was walking the dog and feeling truly awful. Suddenly an angel appeared in a golf cart. Rather than wave at each other as she drove by, our usual greeting in passing, she stopped and said "Here, hop in, let me give you two a ride home."

Later I tried to walk the dog again. I stopped under a shade tree. Something didn't feel right. Suddenly a golf cart appeared, I was offered a ride and home we went.

I opened the fridge to get cold water. That's when I saw the coconut water.

Guzzling one down, I realized I forgot to drink one yesterday or today.

Afterwards still feeling weak I sat down in the cool  air conditioning and fell asleep.

I woke up confused and it was almost 6pm. I was supposed to be at pot luck at 530pm. I had dropped off my food earlier in a crockpot set on warm, so it would be ready and already there.

As I stepped outside to walk to potluck, I began to think, I should go back inside. It was too hot and the blast of heat that slapped me in the face just seemed like an oven.

Suddenly a golf cart raced up my driveway.

"Are you OK? When you didn't turn up at pot luck, we were worried about you!"

I gratefully accepted a ride to pot luck. The folks were so nice, glad to see I was alive (and hungry!)

Talk about angels!

Today they were everywhere in their little golf carts looking after me.

I am so blessed and super grateful.

Life is goof.

Colorful Weather

 

There are so many colorful ways to view our world! That's Florida towards the right and the wild weather we are getting right now. To the west is Hurricane Harvey.

I found this at:

https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/overlay=total_precipitable_water/orthographic=-87.00,28.99,1821

I am unclear about how to manipulate it further. I had fun trying though!

I haven't written much lately because I have been so busy patching things up. My electric assist on the bicycle mysteriously died in May. I was horrified!

Anyhow, numerous phone calls, emails, trips to the post office and back mailing off various parts until the entire kit, caboodle and batteries ended up in Seattle. They kept saying "It works fine here! Mail us this or mail or that..."

Now I had nothing. 

I kept riding my bicycle, but was too wimpy to leave the RV park without my pacifier. Oops I mean electric kit. So I pedaled all over the RV park just having fun and getting exercise. I had garbage to haul, so having the bicycle made my work load easier. Harley dog enjoyed the wind in his fur but when he whined for me to go faster, he wondered why we didn't go as fast as he remembered.

Eventually the repaired pieces came back to me literally in bits and pieces. They forgot a few, so it took several packages spread over a few weeks. A bit maddening!

One day recently I spent a hot sweaty afternoon assembling it all together again. Then much to my shock I discovered the cruelties of dyslexia can be far reaching. 

Incredibly I had the kit and bicycle assembled backwards!

So if I wanted to ride in reverse while facing forward, this could be a new way to end one's life quickly. Believe me, I thought about it too.

I must admit, I was hopping mad!  Covered in sweat, oil and bicycle grime, I smelled awful. I thought by now I would be gleefully taking my maiden voyage to the grocery store. 

After a half hour of sitting by the electric wind machine with a tall glass of cold coconut water and Harley in my lap consoling me, I decided to ring the bell and go for round two. 

Another sweaty hour and I was ready to pass right out. 

The bike was ready. More or less. Now I was too tired to go test it out. It was time for the dog to go do his canine business in the bushes, so we went for a walk. 

Shopping for groceries would have to wait. 

The next morning I got doggie fed, exercised and pooped. Then I told him "Stay" something he had not heard in awhile. I locked him in the motorhome. 

I pedaled out of the park then stopped at the exit. I had to get off my bicycle to turn on my bright red rear strobe light. I took a deep breath, said my prayers, smiled at the angels and pulled out onto U.S. highway 301. 

Luckily there is a small shoulder, so I rode down it to the next county road, took a right, pedaled up an incline, survived the double sets of railroad tracks, crossed Main Street which was pretty darn busy, then finally made it to the grocery store. 

HOORAY!

Survived!

We survived the eclipse. Actually we missed it.

I blame the dog. He doesn't care though.

I finally got my electric kit working on my bicycle again. It has been out of commission since May.

So I've been testing my freedom.

Apparently the neighbors see me everywhere biking.

Some say I am brave!

Wheee!

Once In A Lifetime

So Sorry

Some days it just seems counterproductive to take a shower and clean up then an hour later the heat and humidity have covered me in stinky sweat again.

Tis the seson when my laundry accumulates at a fast smelly rate.

Many of my thin summer shirts that help me stay cool are just ripping to shreds. I went to put one on and as I whirled around to see if it felt cool enough, I hear this r-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-p-p-p-p-p-p.

I get a hand mirror to stand at another mirror to look  at my back. There is a hole bigger than my hand across the shoulder of my favorite shirt.

So that folks, was the scream heard around the campground this morning.

Sorry about that.

Mama Said...

Mama said "You just need to learn how to read. Then you can learn to do anything at all in the whole wide world. There will be a book about that."

And I believed her.

I think she was pretty proud, because even though I danced to a different drummer, I managed to lead what others called an exciting life.

Armed with books, sometimes mail order that I had to patiently wait for weeks or even months to obtain, I studied and learned the things I wanted to know or needed to know.

In the 80's I sold my sticks and bricks home. I thought when I bought it I would be there forever. It was seven magical years in that very special home. When I sold it, there were book cases with thousands of books in every room. Even the bathrooms had books.

Before the idea of selling came into my head, I had dreamily drawn out plans to build a custom bookcase floor to ceiling down my long hallway with adjustable track lighting. I even thought about those bookcase doors found in grand old homes to cleverly conceal doors. Wouldn't it be funny to walk into the hallway, close a door and suddenly be surrounded on all four sides by books.

Today with the internet one can sometimes learn things without even having to go to the library or buy a book.

I learned more than I ever wanted to know about building a bicycle today with an electric kit. I studied a book, read papers, went on the internet. Usually I have dismal internet that won't play videos, but as of a month ago, I have my own little internet now that is actually fast enough for videos. Wow!

My bicycle's electric kit died in May. I was devastated. It was like a baby without a blanket. Yes, I was a thumb sucking baby who couldn't be separated from my Fuffy for the first 5 years of my life.

I was completely insecure. I no longer pedaled far and wide. I stuck close to home. It was hot and humid anyhow. Might as well pass out nearby.

This had clearly shot a hole in my plans. I liked this rural park because it was less than 2 miles from a grocery store. Town is another 2 miles. This all seemed so doable on my bicycle with electric assist. I needn't worry about uphills, or humidity or headwinds or heavy cargo. I could push the magic button and boogie.

Now that my favorite adaptive aid was broken, I was seriously heart broken. Other things were breaking and I was in the midst of negotiating and moving, it was all such a whirlwind of too much to do and not enough time to do it all.

Suddenly  it was time for me to move to my new place. I contacted the manufacturer about my kit and they hoped to get me sorted out in short order. I mailed off bits and pieces. May... June... July... August... finally today on the 14th of August, I am electrified again!

Even the dog was thrilled. He had missed going fast. With the electric kit, I try to pedal as fast as I can zipping through the gears until I am gliding along at a good clip. Then I get tired. But with the electric assist, I can push that magic button to rest a spell, then go back to pedaling yet maintain a pretty good speed.

Pedal awhile, electric some, pedal awhile, electric some. It's fun! The wind blows his fur around wildly, my hair flies behind me and we can literally feel the wind in our smiling faces.

Wheeeeeeeeee!

Today I left the RV park, zipped down the highway on the shoulder then turned off onto a country road. Had I made it all the way to Main Street, I could have stopped at the Winn Dixie grocery store. But the trains came and blocked our way.

I decided to make a U-turn and head back. I didn't have a wallet with me anyhow.

Tomorrow I am hoping to pedal my way over to the grocery store and maybe even the post office. Now that I think about it, I should go to the post office first.

Oh and about all that learning... I somehow managed to put the kit together backwards. I was hopping mad too when I realized what I had done. Two hours and it was all done wrong. I had to change the tire too. I had never done that before and it took longer while I learned all about that too.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

I sat down in front of a fan drinking coconut water. I would rest, I would calm down, I would pray for a miracle, then I would try to unscramble my mess.

Good grief.

Another sweaty hour and I had my bicycle reassembled for the 2nd time. With the correct parts in the correct places. And it worked!

Mama would be proud.

Happy birthday mom! 
I think of you in heaven imagining you are sitting in a rocking chair reading a book by the light of a halo. 
I miss you. 

Tropical Storm Gert

Tropical Storm Gert is currently due east of me but forecast to leave me alone.

Just the same, I am more or less ready for a hurricane. I have a full tank of gas in the RV, plus a tank of water. My propane could use a top off but for just cooking I have enough for a few more months.

There are canned goodies and extra toilet paper. Nothing worse than going through a disaster (or the aftermath)  without toilet paper!

I have a water purifier I use year round that requires no water pressure or electricity. It will also handle extremely dirty water. This has been put to the test when I camped in a place that had horrible water. It took hours for the purifier to clean that mess but by golly, one drop at a time, I eventually had fabulous tasting water.

I have a safe hidey hole to move to. Actually I have several if I can travel far and wide. All are away from any potential hurricane paths.

I have lots of solar gadgets that provide USB charging and solar light charging. The dog has his food stocked up.

So we are pretty much ready to survive whatever mother nature throws our way. We even have assorted hand saws if we have to clear our own path.

Life is goof.

My long skinny  looks like a hurricane already hit it. I was outside trying to stay cool with the aid of awning, umbrella, electric wind and icy cold water. I do love the outdoors in spite of the heat and humidity  we are experiencing.

Stay safe!

Take Charge

Largest Annual Amazon Sale We are excited to inform you that we are doing a fire sale for the weekend with many of our products! Please see all the products below that we are promoting, their coupon codes, final price, and the link to the products! Coupon codes are valid until August 14th 9 PM PST. 10,000 mAh Powerbank Coupon Code: INDRDADZ Product Link:  Original Price: $29.99 Discounted Price: $14.99   20,000 mAh Powerbank Coupon Code: 6LFN8BL3 Product Link:  Original Price: $34.99  Discounted Price: $19.99   Fast Qi Wireless Charger Pad Coupon Code: OCT39FQO Product Link: Original Price: $16.99  Discounted Price: $12.99   Pillow Qi Wireless Charger Pad Coupon Code: BH2EYVFX Product Link:  Original Price:$18.99 Discounted Price: $12.99   Qi Wireless Charging Pad (Green) for Samsung S, S6, Edge, Note 5, Nexus, S5 Coupon Code: PS6NYKON Product Link:  Original Price: $10.00  Discounted Price: $6.99   Qi Wireless Charging Pad (Orange) for Samsung S, S6, Edge, Note 5, Nexus, S5 Coupon Code: 9JNISK3L Product Link:  Original Price: $10.00  Discounted Price: $6.99   Qi Wireless Charger Power Bank 4000 mAh (Black) Coupon Code: TSWPO7UQ Product Link:  Original Price: $27.99  Discounted Price: $19.99   1-Coil portable Ultra Slim Charging Pad for Samsung S6, S5, for HTC ,For All Qi enabled Devices Phones (Black) Coupon Code: EDX6BDMD Product Link:  Original Price: $11.99   Discounted Price: $9.99   iPhone 6/6S Qi Wireless Charging battery Case Coupon Code: COZJMSJ2 Product Link:  Original Price: $27.99 Discounted Price: $19.99    USB AC Wall Charger Quick Charge 2.0 Coupon Code: OBFCP7OH Product Link:  Original Price: $10.00 Discounted Price: $6.99   Qi-Infinity Quick Charger 2.0 58 Watts 4-Port USB Charging Station Coupon Code: ALWJE5VY Product Link:  Original Price: $29.99  Discounted Price: $19.99   Qi-Infinity Quick Charge 2.0 18 watts Car Charger Adaptor Coupon Code: 9G8H9SQV Product Link: Original Price: $10.00 Discounted Price: $6.99   Micro USB Lightning Cable Combo for iPhone and Samsung Phones Coupon Code: C2TOH395 Product Link:  Original Price: $11.99 Discounted Price: $6.99   Ultra Slim Protective iPhone 6 Battery Charging Case Coupon Code: LEIMV5YU Product Link: Original Price: $22.99 Discounted Price: $19.99   Kaenaa Lightning to USB Cable with 3-Port Car Charger for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 plus, iPhone 5 / 5S, iPod touch, iPod nano, iPad and iPad mini, 5.1 AMP Coupon Code: XNCA9MDY Product Link:  Original Price: $16.99 Discoutned Price: $12.99   Kaenaa iPhone Charger Cable Gold [Apple Certified MFi] Lightning (3.3 Feet) for iPhone 7, 7s plus, 6S, 6S plus, 6, 6 plus, iPhone 5, iPad mini, iPad, iPod Coupon Code: WFPI8OBO Product Link:  Original Price: $10.00  Discounted Price: $6.99   Kaenaa 3 USB Port Car Charger (Black/Gold) Coupon Code: 3TS8MLON Product Link: Original Price: $10.99  Discounted Price: $6.99 We hope you grab this opportunity by using the coupon codes provided as these products will not last long! Thanks, Qi-Infinity Team

Falling

Things are starting to fall into place.

A few fall into the wrong place.

But it's a start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weather is here, wish I were there.

Apparently I moved into a rain forest.

It rains nearly every afternoon and many nights.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This teddy bear is EVIDENCE.

A small dog with a teddy bear addiction lives here.

I find assorted teddy bears scattered around.

Funny Cargo

Another gorgeous day in paradise.

My body is just falling apart, no matter how much I try to get it to fly right. Yet, I feel like the luckiest person in the whole wide world.

The spirit is willing, the body is failing.

But hey, I smile and tell myself the pain is an illusion and I concentrate on walking the dog. One step at a time.

This RV park has benches scattered around, so it's easy enough to rest if need be.

Doggy is starting to get to know the neighborhood dogs. Now he is actually allowing other dog walkers to pass by without him giving them a what-for barking.

When I see other dog walkers, I try to catch up to them to see if we can walk together. It gives the dogs a chance to focus on walking yet get to sniff over the other guy and accept.

Acceptance.

I'm known to be an odd little duck. But there are other odd ducks here too. So there is acceptance.

Life is goof!

Enjoy my funny cargo bicycle pictures.

Lucky August and Coconut

The heat and humidity almost got me. It's a rough time of year for me.

August in the south.

Pure 100% coconut water has been my daily rescue. This year I am determined to avoid heat stroke. Last summer it knocked me off my rocker for quite a while.

Although today while walking, I had to rest at a nearby bench. My faithful doggy climbed up in my lap to comfort me. Usually it's the other way around, but I was grateful to have him in my arms. If anything went wrong, that is how they would find us. I had water with us, but no coconut water. When we finally made it back home, I drank the life giving coconut water and oh my gosh. I now feel like a new person.

Almost.

Looks like I picked the wrong Franklin. I though the one east of us would be the first named.

I guess they should have asked me first...

2017 has been wildly exciting. So far I have lived in my rig in 3 campgrounds.

But I did a side trip in late April  with a friend in their van camper to the Florida Keys where I toured a good bit on my bicycle as well as breaking camp often to tour in their van. Indeed my friend had spent some of his college summers working in the Florida Keys so he was happy to revisit his old haunts.

We didn't realize doggies would not be allowed at all beaches, so we had to travel some to find ones where we were welcome. In other cases, poor doggie had to wait alone in the van with a generator and AC to keep him cool. Such a waste of fuel, but Florida has strange dog-o-phobic laws.

It was hard on me to store my rig. I had slept in my bunk every night for over 7 years!

Campers are banned in many parking places in the Keys, but we took our chances since it was a van. I felt like a teenager again!

As a teen in the 70's  I saw a good bit of SC and NC in an old van belonging to a crazy friend. He threw a mattress, a cooler and bucket in the back, then hung up some curtains his mom made for him and called it a camper. Oh and the 70's shag carpet. Can't forget that! We only did day trips, nothing overnight. But even in those days, I needed to rest up when the going got tough. My friend was a heavy drinker, I didn't drink at all. He wasn't my date, but he would get drunk and sleep in his van in other people's driveways. There was always 3-4-5 of us going somewhere in his van on the weekends including the drive in theaters, which are no longer around.

Back to the present... or back to the spring!

Ironically I chose their RV for them, picking it out before they even saw it! So when they invited me to go to the Keys in their new to them camper, I packed up my doggy, a small backpack and hopped aboard with my bicycle! No need to ask me twice. When first invited, my first question was sort of a statement... "As long as my bicycle can go!"

We spent a whole day concocting a bike rack out back to hold both our bicycles. We also took my 3 gallon water purifier so we wouldn't have to keep buying water. Good thing we took it, the water was awful and it took hours for the purifier to work through that, but it was so worth it and saved us a bundle of money.

The dog required a lot of accouterments, it was embarrassing to pack him up, what with toys, pillow, bed, towel, rug, blankie, dry food, wet food, water purifier, spare vest, tags, vet records. Sheesh.

We found a few outdoor restaurants that let the little doggy hang out under the table with a water bowl while we dined. He was surprisingly on his best behavior as if he knew this was a special treat requiring him to be a good doggy.

For the time being, I have cancelled my future reservations until I see what happens next.

I have a lot of patching up to do. My electric bicycle broke and I surely didn't need that inconvenience. The rig and my old body both need a lot of attention and repair parts.

So we chose a happy spot to set up long term camping, and well here we are.

Happy!

Franklin

If you get this by email, then some of my posts that include videos are not showing the video or the link on the email.



Well, that's a shame.



It's Sunday morning here. I am outside listening to the sound of silence interrupted by the occasional sweet  tweet of birds.



It's as if the entire rural neighborhood has wither tiptoed off to church elsewhere or they are deep in slumber. Perhaps like me, they are just savoring the silence.

Watching this F storm at sea is a sobering reminder that I need to clean and organize my rig in case I decide to travel out of harm's way at a future date.



If this mess becomes named, he will be called Franklin.



Amazon sells plenty of emergency supplies at bargain prices, delivered to your door.

A Pathetic Cry For Help

It was a creepy sound.



The sad cry of a puppy in distress.



Look what I found!



Poor baby.



He got himself all tangled up when he woke up from napping.

Storm Emily

Sometimes  I am happy when the weather forecasters are dead wrong.

First we had someone upstairs drain that bathtub in the sky. It rained nonstop for a few days. Now I love rain, but I live in a teeny tiny motorhome with a small smelly dog that desperately needed a good bathing. I have to do this on a sunny day so I can do the drying and toweling outdoors.

Small smelly dog also needs walks and mutt time to do his doggy thing outside. This is rather messy in the rains. For both of us. Even if we bundle up in our rain gear and take an umbrella, somehow we both come back very wet and sometimes miserable too.

Then the forecasters jumped on the bandwagon announcing Tropical Storm Emily just west of us headed for Tampa and due to cross right over my current RV spot. Emily was expected to get worse not better. She was moving at a snail's pace. This is never good as it gives a storm time to build up strength.

We were told to expect nonstop very heavy rains for the next 4-5 days. Here I am on day 2 sitting outside typing in clear sunshine.

Thank you forecasters  for being so  very wrong!

Emily was downgraded to a tropical depression. She is now sailing out to sea on the eastern Atlantic side of Florida. Bye bye Emily!

Well, I am delighted to announce, we dodged another bullet.

Life is grand.

If you missed out on yesterday's ridiculously low priced deal on the 3kw generator, don't worry. There are plenty of other generators still available for sale. I just mentioned that one yesterday in case any of my faithful readers were in the market for a fantastic deal on a powerful generator that was only available for 20 more hours at the time I posted it.

There was a time in that not so distant past, that generators were completely unavailable. Supply and demand somehow became out of whack.

I stumbled into that fabulous bargain because I happened to visit Today's Deals. 

Wish I was here!