I give up! I’m not even going to whine and snivel about the cold anymore. It doesn’t do a bit of good anyway. I’m just going to buy me a team of huskies, hook them to the front end of my motorhome, and go on down the road. God seems to want me to be an Eskimo, and these days dog food costs less than diesel fuel anyway.
We thought we left the cold weather behind us once we got to Arizona, where folks have been basking in the sunshine all winter long. But a nasty cold front has hit the state, with overnight temperatures in the low 30s last night, along with wind gusts in excess of 40 miles per hour. Today the high is supposed to be in the mid-50s, and we’ll be down in the 20s overnight.
Yesterday, we found a car wash to scrape some of the grime that had built up between Florida and Arizona off our Explorer, then we we stopped at RV Renovators in Mesa to visit with office manager Cinda Nelson. We met Cinda last year when we took our Winnebago in for our first Norcold refrigerator recall, and were impressed with how many things they can do, from warranty work, to installing RV flooring and cabinets, to body work, and anything else you could want or need done, except for major mechanical repairs. I asked Cinda to come to our Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally in Yuma next month, to present a seminar on how you can save money by refurbishing your present RV, instead of buying a new one.
Speaking of Norcold and their poor record of performance, Cinda said now that the company has a new recall out, her shop is keeping busy doing those modifications. We have had both Norcold recalls done, but I sleep a lot better knowing that we also have one of Mac McCoy’s automatic refrigerator compartment fire extinguishers, because RVs are still burning up from refrigerator fires all the time.
While we were at RV Renovators, we arranged for them to build and install doors on the TV compartments over our windshield and in the bedroom. We have replaced both of the heavy old TVs that came with the motorhome with new, lighter flat screen models, and have just been setting them in place, then taking them down and laying them on the bed when we travel. Once Cinda’s crew gets the new doors installed, the TVs will be mounted on them, eliminating that chore, and the doors will turn the TV cabinets into extra storage areas, which we can always use.
When we left RV Renovators, we stopped at a couple of stores to pick up some things Terry needed, and then we popped in for a visit with her parents. Then we grabbed a bite to eat, came back to the motorhome, and I dumped our black water tank. Our internet connection here gets really slow at times, so after I got frustrated trying to answer several e-mails, I gave up and sat on the couch to do them with my iPad. I think I got the last reply sent before I dropped off for a nap. I woke up in time to write today’s blog, catch the nightly news, and watch Miss Terry make me a batch of her delicious No Fail chocolate fudge with pecans.Yummy!
Today is Miss Terry’s mom’s birthday, so Terry is taking her out for lunch and a “girls’ day.” Happy Birthday, Bess! I tease my mother-in-law to death, but after over thirteen years of being married to her daughter, I think I’m finally growing on her. Why, just the other day she referred to me as “you know who!” That’s a major step forward in our relationship! 🙂
While Terry and her mom are out doing their thing, I’ll work on the new issue of the paper, and I have a couple of errands I need to run, including dropping off several orders at the post office. Two friends of mine want me to sponsor them to join the Elks, and since I don’t have any membership applications, I need to run up to the Apache Junction Elks lodge to get some applications. There are a couple of gun shops between here and there, so I suspect I’ll have to stop and check them out!
Thought For The Day – We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Nick, I think I figured out what’s happening with all this cold weather in the South this year. Old Man Winter has a long tongue of cold air, and he’s been chasing you across the country with it. You just passed by the Houston area a few days ago, and here it is 22 d*&n degrees this morning. This must be your fault! 😉
I agree with Rob. After you left Florida the weather has been great. Mid to high 70’s in the day and high 50’s to low 60’s at night. And lots of sunshine! It doesn’t get much better than that. Thanks Nick! 🙂
Huskies! Hahahaha. Now that’s funny. You are not suffering alone, I have to read your blog on my Droid while still under the covers here in
Quartzsite with the Geocacher BOF.
We look forward to seeing Cinda again too; she’ll be great at the rally.
Nick,
I’ll trade you your low 30/high 50 for our low of 4 this morning and a predicted high of 16 in Lakewwod, NM. 🙂
It sucks as even the park water is frozen.
20’s and 30’s cold? That’s almost a heat wave. Our outdoor thermometer stopped working at -22 so we don’t know how cold it really became last night in Breckenridge CO.
Our motorhome is at RV Renovators right now, with a long list of interior renovations underway: new carpeting, installation of a new TV (and remodeling the cabinetry), resealing the roof and replacing the vents, building a new behind-the-sofa shelf, and replacing our two huge windshields. When we arrived for a look yesterday, the big slide was hanging out at a wierd angle so they could wrap the carpet around the lip of the slide – both scary and exciting! Photos are on our blog, LaurieAndOdel.blogspot.com.
Perhaps we will run into you out there one day – we have a couple more weeks of work to be done.
I agree with Terry and Rob. Since you’ve left Florida, the cold weather apparently missed you and decided to travel west with you.
And, since you’ve mentioned visiting gun shops, have you heard about the proposed law in South Dakota that every adult will have to own a gun? Once a person has reached the age of 21, they would have 6 months within which to purchase a gun of their choice. (And, I wish I was kidding.)
I’ll still trade your Az. weather for what we just got in SW Michigan. I finished plowing out my street with my tractor, no shield around me and the wind blowing the snow right back into my face, felt just like ice hitting my face, stinging sensation, now a beautiful blue sky and snow drift yards. Bill D.
Nick please stop sniveling about your cold weather. Right now it is 3:30 and our temp is sitting at 21 with a wind chill of 9. We are freezing please send us some warm weather. Tonight it is to be the coldest night of all and it is to be 16. They moved Texas to Siberia I think. Please someone send us some warm weather. We can not wait to get to Yuma and warm weather. Our high today reached 24. They have initiated rolling black outs because of the low temps. So we have iffy electric. We do have the propane and we hope we have enough left to last us thru this cold spell.
You’re a true Prince of a Friend. . . I really appreciate your efferts in enabling my Elks membership. Even more, Nancy and I are looking forward to sharing a meal with you and Miss Terry. As always, oRV
We are suffering from man made global warming. Can’t you feel the heat wave. When the government starts taxing power plants and we start paying more for power, the climate will be all fixed. You do believe this don’t you?