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Saturday, October 31, 2015

Treat Visitors

Tonight we were just hanging at the Grands, we had enjoyed pizza and we had settled in to play a few rounds of games while enjoying the ROYALS game when the doorbell rang and these two appeared.

 The Goddess with her Ninja body guard!

We sent them on their way after filling their buckets with M&Ms and Hershey chocolate bars. It was a slow night for treat visitors. We had two earlier in the evening (and I forgot to get a picture) and the two above and that was it! Just left more candy for the Trooper and MiRV is how some looked at it.


#Littles

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Wednesday Words - Winget

Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don't have a plan. 
Larry Winget

This made me pause but I think it rings true...the pause comes because at this point we have no plan. Maybe we should form up one as this vagabond nomadic life we are leading will not always be possible and one must be prepared for that. Hmmm...

Monday, October 26, 2015

Gun Fun

The daughter is here and since they enjoy shooting and her grandparents have some land they brought their weapons and had an afternoon of fun...
They took off on a 4-wheeler exploration adventure to find just the right spot for firing the weapons. They needed a good 100 yards since they were going to sight the AR-15 and they also got to take Granddad's 30 with the really cool site on it. 

 Off on a fact finding mission first!

The Trooper wanted to try out his new site and MiRV wanted to get a feel for a new handgun as he is looking at having one and they have several options available to get his hands on. It was a beautiful day for being outside. Since it is supposed to rain tomorrow I'm glad we went took advantage of the great weather.


The day was perfect for just being outside...a great day to be out in the sticks for sure.

 
 Guns and ammo are something this guy enjoys!

What a great day, glad we got it done cause tomorrow looks like rain. No worries we will still enjoy it and there is a family Mexican dinner on the agenda so all is good!

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Another week, where did it go?

We wrapped up another week here in MO and honestly it just flew by. Where did it go, seriously?

 The Littles carved their pumpkins.
Unfortunately with all the wonderfully nice weather we have been having the jack-o-lanterns are molding, which makes them creepier, but also gross! Don't think they are gonna make it to the big T&T night; they are gonna be rotted by then :(

 More movie selections...

It's been fun watching their movies...LOL!

Birthdays at the farm are nearly a family tradition for the Little boy. Lots of boys, laughter, ball playing and a hay ride to finish off the night. I think he had a great time. His football team won their last game so that started his day off GREAT he said. Cannot believe he is NINE already...

A little "round Roada time"

Since we cleaned up the chairs and moved them around to the side yard we have been enjoying more outside time quite regularly. The weather has just been too nice not to be outside. So we had an impromptu yard party Sunday evening. Kids loved having the daughter and her husband all to themselves and played they did! Trampoline, soccer, football, bounce ball, it was a perfect evening. Looking forward to having the daughter here most of the week :)

#BLESSED

Friday, October 23, 2015

Looking back at our first year with Roada..

When we made the decision to downsize from Sunny, our 2002 31.5 foot class A, to Roada, a brand new 22.9 foot class B I NEVER dreamed it would be so dramatic. We are full timers and knew it would be a BIG change; however, our family motto has always been "adapt and overcome" so we thought no biggie. I, for one, was NOT at all prepared for the headache of new rig ownership. Sunny was an oldie and a goodie, she had never been kept overnight for service, a major plus for a full timer. Roada has been in the shop 70+ days since ownership, we were displaced 65 of those days. This was not at all what I expected and many nights I went to bed thinking what in the world have we done??

We did not take moving to a Roadtrek lightly, it was a long, hard decision not to mention a huge financial outlay for us. We had been researching smaller rigs since our trip up the East coast when we found ourselves unhooking our toad and day tripping a lot. So one fall day we took the plunge and ordered a 2015 RT CS Adventurous with 4 AGM batteries, 240 watts of solar and an Onan generator that uses propane. On 20 October the dealer called to say our new home had been delivered, so we arranged the PU for a few days later...keep in mind we had been back and forth we this dealer and this deal with several pop up adds to the price not to mention they tell us the week before we take delivery they will not take an out of state check. Yes, we were paying cash (check) for about half of this new rider and would have the loan check for the other half. Both were being drawn on out of state banks. Finally, they agree to take the loan check since it was from a major issuer (USAA) but getting our part was still posing quite a challenge. Finally, settle on them doing an electronic draw...which they could not figure out and reluctantly allow us to bring a check. Oi vey!

After a 12 hour drive to pick up our rig, late salesman for our p/u appointment and  a comedy of errors on the paperwork (no temp tags in the entire dealership, waiting 3 hours for someone to go to the DMV to get one) we were feeling extremely unamused. Our walk-thru was not at all what we expected and turned into a question and vague answer session with the tech...why is this screw coming out of the overhead compartment?, why is this panel not aligned like on the driver's side?, should this panel by bent like this?, why won't this light won't shut off on the first try, on and on and my personal favorite, why doesn't the water pump shut off? That answer takes the cake, "we have you hooked to city water and the tank hasn't filled yet, it will shut off when the tanks full" hmmmm, okay. We had a 12 hour drive ahead of us so I admit we were anxious to get on the road.

Looking back, we should have just walked away from this unit...but we didn't.

So anyway, we stopped for the night, turn on water pump, guess what? It still does not shut off. Head on to MO and what I like to call the real cost of new ownership begins. Issues continue and more pop up. The water pump will not shut off even with some over the phone factory troubleshooting, our AC unit is dead upon first attempt at using and we are still sorting out the misaligned rear quarter panel as well as the broken panel in the overhead compartment. To say we are slightly annoyed would be an understatement. Purchasing dealer will not ever return our phone calls, sympathetic ears from RT but not much action seen. I honestly feel we have blown a wad of money on a rig that is going to take a lot of our time to fix. Oh yes, it's all warranty work, but it's our time and money to drive it to closer servicing warranty dealer.

The closer dealer agrees to take us on and attempt to work all fixes which have increased in number again to include a non usable ALDE due to not being top offed with glycol (found after opening the floor valves), to toilet that won't hold water (bad seal), to refrigerator that won't work properly on 12V just to name a few. Thankfully, the MB mechanical side of the house seems all systems go.

We continue to be plagued by the sinking feeling of this  will never be resolved. And, yes, some of these things may seem trivial but after having so many things, some bigger than others, every little wrong just exacerbates the feeling of what have we gotten ourselves in to. Purchasing dealer support was nonexistent, factory support was slow going and not a lot of conscientious follow up or leaning forward. I feel like we were literally fighting for everything we needed to be resolved with lots of talking to even the higher ups and direction given but little action from those tagged to "get it done". We hope this was a rare exception but the entire experience has left a bitter taste in our mouth even at the year mark.

We do enjoy our lifestyle on wheels. Would we buy new again? Probably not, would we buy RT again? Can't say for certain on that. RT is touted as the best Class B around but we are not a good overall judge of their product since our experience was not at all what one would expect.

We hope it was an off day/week at the factory when our unit was produced as too much came to us that should we feel should have been caught by a good QC department. We know there will be issues with anything new, we aren't that naive; we just never expected so many or the ordeal of getting fixes or permission for fixes or parts that had nothing to do with our ownership/usership. We believe we took delivery of a rig that should never have left the factory the way it did. The "it happens" happened a lot on our unit and no one wanted to or did take responsibility for this. It was/is frustrating and that's why that bitter taste is still there in our mouths. We are scheduled back in the shop for an indeterminate amount of days next week, I feel like yelling, "when will it ever end" but then realize it won't do any good.

Happy trails, hope your road is less bumpy than our last year has been...any if you read to the end and think I'm whining, so be it, but it's my blog :) Also, I didn't bore you with ALL the issues we had I hit the high points, yeah, so you have that to be thankful for, your welcome!

#Roadtrek
#arbogastNEVERagain

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Movie Watching

A few days ago we asked the Littles if we could borrow a few of their movies. You just haven't lived until you let a 7 and almost 9 year old pick out a few movies for you. You see when your TV reception is non existent in your abode and you have an avid TV watcher that will watch just about anything to get his TV fix this is what you get and you don't throw a fit!


While not our normal genre of movie watching we did get several laughs out of it! We made our own selections for the next few viewings and while they are not what we would usually watch they have been solid entertainment!


Speaking of movies I REALLY, really want to see Chonda Pierce's new movie coming out next week, Laughing in the Dark. Soooo looks like a potential road trip could be in our future. Just not sure what location...Joplin, KC or Springfield; since it is not playing locally :(

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Wednesday Words - Bard

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Carl Bard

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Another MO week!

Another busy productive week.

While we had plenty on our plate it was a light week in terms of physical tasks, at least on my end...MiRV still did many tasks but I was on light duty this week. Mostly because I am trying to get things organized in Roada and sorted before we head south in a few weeks.  One of our projects was to turn the hanging wardrobe into usable storage with shelve. I love it so far!
 New Shelves!!!
The highlight of our social outings was to watch one of the Littles perform...oh yes, it was cuteness to the max. Topped off the evening with a farm cookout with Uncle K who was traveling through and made a stop to see everyone for a few days.
Our Little Performer
 Sometimes having to go to the city for Doctoring has its perks...

Then we finally got the notification that our vanity plate was in. MiRV went right over to pick it up as he has been anxiously awaiting its arrival. Now Roada will be wearing her name. Kind of cool!
Affixing Roada's new tag!
And never fear there was a little more wood work done...still have more to do but another dent was made in this project!



Finally, earlier this evening and sadly, sans pictures we celebrated another family birthday. Day early, but the restaurant of choice is not open on Sunday so we went tonight. It was a yummy meal for sure and the leftovers are gonna be awesome this week as they make an appearance in stew!

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Wednesday Words - Confucius

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
Confucius

 

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Weekend Wrap Up

We kept to our regular chores this week...clearing fence row, mowing etc. Also did a little relocation project.

 We relocated wood that had been in the basement, oh, say, 20+ years. Some projects just cannot be rushed!
 
Then this happened, oh yes, and it was a not a task for the faint of heart. Lord knows we were saying prayers that it "fell" the right way. It didn't! Thankfully though there was no damage in the way it did go down. That's one B.I.G. tree. The clean up has been laborious no doubt and I for one will be glad when this task is complete. Thankfully, we think we have someone who wants the bulk of the wood. Clean up has been tedious and continues.
 Making the first cut; piece of cake... Let's think about this just a bit...

 And then just like that it's falling...

 Just call me Paul Bunyon! LOL
 
After felling the tree we called it a day and ate pizza for dinner. We had a day off and then spent a few hours on Saturday afternoon making quick work of getting this thing cut into bite size pieces, it was a lot of cutting, lifting and moving but it is so much tidier now and all that's left is the huge trunk to work on. I am not sure when our next work day on this will be but soon this little project will be done! Did I mention there are at least two more trees to be taken down?

Chain came off more then once...

Topping off the weekend was a little celebration of welcoming a new one to the world. Always fun to celebrate new life. I think she will be here sooner rather then later! Always fun to see the extended family and visit with friends that you haven't seen in a while. And cake, we had yummy cake! But I was the only one celebrating MiRV was on tree clean up duty with a little tractor work thrown in for good measure! It's looking better and better.

 Congrats K&K&K!!!

#PaulBunyon
#babies

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Wednesday Words - Pavese

We do not remember days, we remember moments. 
Cesare Pavese

Hmmm, I guess this rings true for some things..

Monday, October 5, 2015

OUR day....again!

Funny how our day happens every year...yep, on 5 October, oh so many years ago MiRV asked me to be his wife. We do something to mark that day every year. Sometimes it's just the simplest of things, other times it's bigger, sometimes serious, but more often than not silly or memorable in a fun way.

WooHoo today is OUR day!

 That's my guy...

We had no idea what we were in for when we committed to do life as husband and wife but we knew we wanted to to do it together. We have, we still are; it's how we roll. You see one and most likely you see the other, we lead "together" lives not separate. It's who we are.

Anywho, as we mark this day once again, I often look back at all we have been through (a lot), what we have accomplished (not much, really) and where I think we will be next year at this time (who knows!). It's a good life we live, not a piece of cake but we do  manage and we do also eat cake along the way...on the hard days especially.

Today we are gonna celebrate our "yes" day!

#Commitment
#IsaidYES

Sunday, October 4, 2015

It's October!

Can you believe it? The calendar has just flipped again and we are now sailing into the last quarter of 2015. Unreal!

This week we found ourselves on the road...a lot. It was  a run up and down I-49 kind of week and we are not done as we will be going both north and south in the next few days. Even so we still got a little yard work in, seems that task is NEVER done! The back fence row is looking really good!


Since we were running up and down the road we stopped at the "beef jerky outlet". Well, when I think of outlet I think of a good price, I can't really say that was the case for this place. However, since we have jerky loving kids we picked up a bag to the tune of nearly $20. Yeah, I know, crazy!

 OUTLET...notsomuch!

MiRV is THRILLED to be the proud owner of a new to him iPhone 4S. He has been using my old 3G and before that he was a TracFone user, so he really feels he has moved on up! Glad to have snagged this affordable new to us phone on Craigslist. We met up with the seller at the AT&T store and activation went seamlessly, I love it when a good deal is enjoyed by all!
 New phone happy guy!

It's ALWAYS awesome to get a phone call for lunch...we were totally in. Tried a new place; it was pretty good. Greek is more MiRVs thing but I have to say I enjoyed this spot and may even go back someday. Getting new OU gear was priceless :)

Always, always enjoy seeing this one!!!

We did Friday night football again. Sadly it was another Tiger loss...but the band BBQ was really good and the little league recognition was cute! Our player was feeling BIG on the field and then his team won their home game yesterday so at least we had one win for the weekend!
#61 :)

Cooler weather found it's way here to SW MO for a few days and felt pretty good. I hope it's not here for good, I would love to enjoy fall like weather for the next several weeks. I enjoy fall.