WELL…THIS ISN'T GOOD!

Sunday, November 12 – What a day! On Thursday, Paul replaced the burned-out heating element in the hot water heater. We were able to heat water with propane but not electric. This isn't a big job if you have the correct tool. Unfortunately, Paul did not have the socket wrench necessary to remove the element. After searching Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Sears and Northern Tools, he finally took Marsha's suggestion and went to PPL, a large RV consignment dealer and parts store here in Houston. Yep, Marsha was right again, they had one, and Paul picked-up the heating element while there.

Paul had to practically take the entire front off the tank to get to the element, but he was successful. We now had hot water via electricity, which is included in our $15/night price here at the Houston Elks. (If staying a month it's only $300/month – that's $10/night!)

Wish we could say that was the end of our hot water issues! After cleaning up and putting everything away, Paul noticed water on the concrete slab. No, the element wasn't leaking. After removing panels under the kitchen sink to expose the entire hot water tank, Paul found a soaked floor and a leaking hot water tank.....DANG!

So, Saturday morning it was back to PPL to purchase a new Suburban hot water tank. Never having replaced a hot water tank, Paul was a little worried, but luckily the neighbor has done a replacement and encouraged Paul that the job is pretty straight forward. Of course, Marsha was there with plenty of encouragement also!

He started by removing the old tank which involves detaching hot and cold plumbing lines, 110 volt electric lines, 12 volt electric wires, propane lines, and exterior trailer moldings. It requires some contortionist positions under the kitchen sink as well! OUCH!

After removing the old tank, Marsha helped hold the new tank in the hole while he reconnected wires and propane lines.

The new tank slid in fairly easily, and Paul crawled back under the sink to complete the plumbing connections.

After filling the tank and finding no leaks, Paul fired up and tested the propane heating element. Finding it working correctly, he then tested the electrical heating element and was happy to see it working correctly. And most importantly, we have hot water with NO LEAKS!!! Yeah!

SIDE NOTE #1: Paul checked the service desk at PPL, and they wanted $240 for installing a hot water tank and couldn't get to it until late this week!

SIDE NOTE #2. Regardless what Marsha might tell you, Paul was not stressed-out, didn't swear, and completed the job with a smile on his face and whistling a happy tune! At least that is Paul's story, and he is sticking to it.

Happy Veterans day to all who have served our country so proudly and bravely. Thank you for your unselfish service.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

GETTING THE 5TH WHEEL WEIGHED

Tuesday, November 6 –  Our voting precinct is right here in Rainbow's End, so we were able to walk over and cast our ballots early today.

Only in Livingston would you find this type of sign.

We also are getting the 5^th wheel and truck weighed today. We first drove the truck fully loaded with fuel and supplies, as it would be on a typical travel day onto the scales.

Mark Nemeth reads the scale.

We then returned to our campsite and hooked-up the 5^th wheel. We returned to the weighing sight for the final weighing.

Chris helps out with the weighing.

The results were very good with all four corners of both the truck and the 5^th wheel coming in way under maximum allowed weight.

Chris and Mark go over the results with Paul.

We now need to download tire statistics so we can adjust inflation rates. Since we are under weight, we can reduce the tire pressure in both the truck and 5^th wheel tires.

After weighing, we pulled-out for the two hour drive to the Stafford Elks Lodge on Route 59 just South of Houston. We are frequent visitors of this Lodge, staying here whenever we are in town visiting our daughter, Carrie. We are at site #6 and will be here through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Look at that blue sky, and the temperature is in the 80's….ahhhhhhhh! 

It still looks like summer here with all the green trees and bushes still in bloom.

Most of the afternoon was spent trying to aim the satellite dish properly and get reception on the TV. Two of the neighbors were here offering their advice, Marsha was on the phone with Direct TV, and eventually we were successful in getting reception. We did find out that it will be necessary for a service technician to pay us a visit to fix our receiver. We do have a picture, we just can't record on the DVR.

With the TV working, we settled back to watch the election returns and spend the evening unwinding after four hectic days traveling from Ohio.

ON A SIDE NOTE: While taking pictures at our weighing session today at Escapee's Rainbows End, Marsha was reading the SmartWeigh poster.

She looked closer and noticed a picture of us at our last weighing in Livingston two years ago. It was on the poster advertising Escapee's Smart Weight Program. Then later that evening while reading the latest edition of the Escapee's magazine (November/December 2012), Paul saw the same picture on page 96, the last page in the magazine. Pretty neat!

That is our Phaeton in the upper-right hand corner and Paul and Mark.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

MARSHA IS NOT A HAPPY CAMPER TODAY

Monday, November 5 – It's been a year since we were “HOME” in Livingston, TX. Rainbow's End Escapee's Park is the national headquarters for the Escapee RV Club and is our official mailing address. We have all our mail sent here, where it is sorted and forwarded to us upon request. We are very satisfied with our mail service here at Escapees.

Boy, is this place packed! Many are here to vote, or snowbirds on their way South, or arrivals for the Boot Camp seminar coming up later this week. Glad we are only going to be here one night. We want to vote, pick-up our mail, and get the 5^th wheel weighed. We should get that all taken care of by noon, and we'll be on our way to Houston.

Site #114 – pull through for overnight stays.

We are parked right across the street from the office.

Looking right.

Looking left.

We had a catastrophe today! When Marsha went in to set-up the 5^th wheel, she was greeted with dishes smashed all over the floor. Two cupboards flew open during our travel and dumped the contents on the floor. She felt so bad. Several of these dishes were her grandma's and others were wedding gifts we received when we got married. She said she traveled three years fulltime in the motor home and never had this happen.

In talking with one of the neighbors here in the campground, we learned we need to bungee those cupboard doors closed. Wish we had been told that earlier. So we ran out to Walmart to get the necessary supplies to secure the cabinet doors that have breakable dishes in them. Sort of like locking the barn doors after the cows got out..... :<((

Thanks to a suggestion from Donna and Karen, we tried Bella in her kitty carrier today. She still is an unhappy kitty while traveling. She rode for about an hour in it and then stuck her head right through the darn thing. The zipper is broken and of course Bella jumped right out. We purchased a new one at Walmart. Sure hope this one works.

A very unhappy kitty.

"Mom, why are you doing this to me?"

"Now this is much better. I knew I would get my way sooner or later."

Siesta time. How does she sleep like that?

One thing we both noticed today was the absence of any sway on the 5^th wheel/truck combination when large trucks wiz by on the road. We traveled on I-30 today. It was filled with trucks. Even with the motor home, we experience an occasional “hair raising moment” when trucks flew-by. We seem very stable driving the Ford 350 dually and towing the Cameo. Could it be a result of the DUALLY tires on the Ford? Hope it rides as well in windy conditions.

Get out there and vote!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.