Driving around in your house has it's advantages in that you ALWAYS have your food supply with you. There is never a moment when you are out in your car and decide you REALLY need a snack but you are 200 miles, (or feet) from the nearest Mac Donalds. (There are almost as many Mac Donalds as there are Walgreens stretching across this nation AND Canada. This is a fact that we have researched! You may be hard put to find a Burger King but NEVER a Mac Donalds. They are EVERY WHERE ! (Well done Ray Kroc !)
Any way . . . this idea of always having food at your fingertips has been a delight for Mr. D and a bane for me. We will be barreling, (note I use this word often and for good reason because it really does describe our rate of travel.) down the road and the man will get a hankering for a snack. (And if you believe that is it Dwayne's idea to snack then you really don't know me that well.) But who ever gets the brilliant idea first makes no difference because we both know that a snack is only a few feet away in the back of the RV. There I can find a full fridge with enough goodies to keep the French Foreign Legion marching for weeks. Not to mention the snack cabinet above the fridge that is full of all sorts of happy things. First and foremost in this arsenal of food are the bags of donuts. My man Dwayne is a sucker for sweets . . . cookies, cake, donuts and sticky buns, (which for some reason the middle of the country has the market cornered on. I have never tasted such amazing sticky buns as the ones you get from Michigan to Alaska). All these calorie packed goodies are top in D's daily menu. First thing in the morning we MUST have a cup of coffee and a sweet. (And the man NEVER gains an ounce while I am packing on the pounds by the mile.)
Along our journey West I have the job of making the morning run into the gas station "quick shop" to get the morning coffee while D fills the RV with gas for our day's journey. Along with the coffee I go on the safari hunt for the morning sweet. Most places just have the generic muffins, sweet rolls and donuts pre packaged and tasting of cellophane. (Not that the taste of cellophane has stopped us yet). I will choose something to munch on with our coffee as we roll on down the road to our next stop. So far we haven't found anything extraordinary, with the exception of the sticky bun that we got in a diner in Anchorage when we met Ruth for breakfast. That thing was the size of the tires on the RV. It could have fed a family of five with some left over. Ruth ordered it, ate about 3 bites and had the waitress box the remainder for us to take with us down the road. OH MAMA !! Was that ever good.. After that it was back to semi stale but still satisfying goodies from the gas station stops. UNTIL !!!! . . . About 4 days ago I was checking out the selection of goodies while D gassed up and I picked up a bag of HOSTESS mini donuts. (As I was getting out of the RV D said, "See if they have any donuts so it was donuts that I had on my radar.) There are certain criteria that must be followed when choosing snacks for the RV.
#1 . . . The snack has to be small enough to hold in your hand while driving.
#2 . . . The snack can not be messy. No dripping syrup, Not too sticky, No sugar falling into your lap and GOD forbid,
#3 . . . NOTHING THAT IS CRUMBLY !!!! We can not have crumbs flying all over the cab.
So when I saw this bag of mini donuts with a sugar glaze I figured they just might fit the bill.
HOLY COW DID WE HIT THE MOTHER LOAD with these little suckers. Neither one of us has ever had such a good donut in our lives. Not Dunkin donuts, Not Crispy Cream and not even Publix, who has the very best bakery in the world can compare to this little bag of HEAVEN ! We did manage to nurse the bag for 2 days but by the time we got into Fairbanks we were on our last bite. Since we had to go to the store for a few other items we just happened to come across the Hostess donuts where we bought our next bag of minis. Unfortunately they did not have the awesome glazed ones so we had to branch out and try the "crunch" donut which is coated in a sugar glaze and then rolled in coconut. (Normally this would be a No No because D doesn't care for coconut AND the coconut has a tendency to flake off all over the place. But seeing how we were going to be stationary for a while we thought we would give them a try.) They are pretty good but not as good as the original bag. But now the quest is on to try EVERY type of donut that Hostess makes to determine, (In the name of Science), just which donut type is the very best.
I will be sure to include this scientific study in my medical history when I go for my next physical and am 20 pounds heavier than before.
Saturday, June 8, 2019
REALLY REALLY CLOSE QUARTERS
This "camping" thing is a real test of my ability to "play well with others". I think I am a people person but I DO have my alter ego that is one step this side of hermit. I LOVE my alone time and having my space to do what I want when I want so driving 3,300 miles sharing a space the size of a booth at Mac Donalds is quite a challenge.
Yesterday we arrived in Fairbanks and I will admit I have very mixed emotions. I'm sorry to see the "adventure" part of our journey end but I'm very happy to finally have a place to park "The Bee" for a couple of weeks and have some space to roam. Dwayne's son had a huge piece of property in a wonderful wooded community with dirt roads and a river just a short walk away. (There are also bears and moose in the woods so I don't roam very far off the roads. Being a "city girl" I don't like the idea of encountering anything larger than a squirrel or a neighbors dog. 0 There are plenty of dogs in the neighborhood, 4 of them live right here at DJ's. Dakota and Coffee are 11 and poor old Dakota is showing her age since the last time I was here. She sort of walks like I do when I get up in the morning and every bone in my body hurts. Coffee is still going strong and is one of the sweetest, mild mannered dogs I have ever met. Then there is DJ's dog who is 7 and Ava's (Dwayne's grand daughter) dog who is a 1 year old PUPPY with way too much energy. All 4 dogs are LARGE to say the least. Add to the mix the neighbors lab and it is a free for all out in the yard. Living in the country all the dogs, except the puppy, run loose so it is an obstacle course to get from the RV into the house. D and I are living in the RV in the driveway for the next two weeks because both grand daughters are here and we don't want to take a room away from the youngest, who is here for a month with her dad. (Emmy lives in GA with her mom most of the year)
So, even though we have landed in Fairbanks for 2 weeks we are still living in our little home. If I ever thought living in a 4 bedroom house with 3 kids and Get were a challenge this is a true test of sharing space. The BIG difference here is the man that I am sharing the space with, unlike my past experiences, Dwayne actually is AWARE of his surroundings. If I am standing in the front of the RV and need to move to the back it is not like passing a water buffalo in the aisle of CVS. D sees what is going on and actually moves to make things easier. It is amazing the difference this makes in keeping sane. For what ever reason, maybe because he was in the Army all those years and learned how to play and live with other people in close quarters, it really has been NICE living in this little space with this man. (With the exception of the 3 miles of oxygen hose that I have already written about.)
Our biggest challenge is what to do with the laundry. No matter how you do it there is ALWAYS laundry accumulating somewhere. You take off dirty clothes, (and I do mean dirty, considering we are camping) and they need to go somewhere. There are no closets to toss them in, no space under the beds to hide them in, the refrigerator is full of beer and the bathroom barely has enough room for a body never mind a bag of wash. There is the shower, (YES, we actually have a shower), and so that is the space used to toss the laundry. Except when we want to take a shower we have to move the bag onto the step into the RV. It is a juggling game but if this is the least of the problems of space we are doing good. I have considered just opening the camper door and tossing underwear out into the yard until there is enough of a pile to do a wash but I think the neighbors may have a problem with their dogs running over, grabbing my dirty undies and dragging them through the neighborhood.
This little house on wheels is very well laid out with more than enough closet space over the beds. Trouble with this is I have the need to FILL the space so I will continue to buy souvenirs to fill the closets. No thought given to how all this is EVER returning to Florida with me at the end of this journey. Hopefully I won't be filling my suitcase with dirty laundry so there will be room for extra stuff.
Yesterday we arrived in Fairbanks and I will admit I have very mixed emotions. I'm sorry to see the "adventure" part of our journey end but I'm very happy to finally have a place to park "The Bee" for a couple of weeks and have some space to roam. Dwayne's son had a huge piece of property in a wonderful wooded community with dirt roads and a river just a short walk away. (There are also bears and moose in the woods so I don't roam very far off the roads. Being a "city girl" I don't like the idea of encountering anything larger than a squirrel or a neighbors dog. 0 There are plenty of dogs in the neighborhood, 4 of them live right here at DJ's. Dakota and Coffee are 11 and poor old Dakota is showing her age since the last time I was here. She sort of walks like I do when I get up in the morning and every bone in my body hurts. Coffee is still going strong and is one of the sweetest, mild mannered dogs I have ever met. Then there is DJ's dog who is 7 and Ava's (Dwayne's grand daughter) dog who is a 1 year old PUPPY with way too much energy. All 4 dogs are LARGE to say the least. Add to the mix the neighbors lab and it is a free for all out in the yard. Living in the country all the dogs, except the puppy, run loose so it is an obstacle course to get from the RV into the house. D and I are living in the RV in the driveway for the next two weeks because both grand daughters are here and we don't want to take a room away from the youngest, who is here for a month with her dad. (Emmy lives in GA with her mom most of the year)
So, even though we have landed in Fairbanks for 2 weeks we are still living in our little home. If I ever thought living in a 4 bedroom house with 3 kids and Get were a challenge this is a true test of sharing space. The BIG difference here is the man that I am sharing the space with, unlike my past experiences, Dwayne actually is AWARE of his surroundings. If I am standing in the front of the RV and need to move to the back it is not like passing a water buffalo in the aisle of CVS. D sees what is going on and actually moves to make things easier. It is amazing the difference this makes in keeping sane. For what ever reason, maybe because he was in the Army all those years and learned how to play and live with other people in close quarters, it really has been NICE living in this little space with this man. (With the exception of the 3 miles of oxygen hose that I have already written about.)
Our biggest challenge is what to do with the laundry. No matter how you do it there is ALWAYS laundry accumulating somewhere. You take off dirty clothes, (and I do mean dirty, considering we are camping) and they need to go somewhere. There are no closets to toss them in, no space under the beds to hide them in, the refrigerator is full of beer and the bathroom barely has enough room for a body never mind a bag of wash. There is the shower, (YES, we actually have a shower), and so that is the space used to toss the laundry. Except when we want to take a shower we have to move the bag onto the step into the RV. It is a juggling game but if this is the least of the problems of space we are doing good. I have considered just opening the camper door and tossing underwear out into the yard until there is enough of a pile to do a wash but I think the neighbors may have a problem with their dogs running over, grabbing my dirty undies and dragging them through the neighborhood.
This little house on wheels is very well laid out with more than enough closet space over the beds. Trouble with this is I have the need to FILL the space so I will continue to buy souvenirs to fill the closets. No thought given to how all this is EVER returning to Florida with me at the end of this journey. Hopefully I won't be filling my suitcase with dirty laundry so there will be room for extra stuff.
Friday, June 7, 2019
DECISIONS - DECISIONS - DECISIONS
Some things never change. I hate being the one making the decisions. You know how when you are with a group of people and no one can decide whether to order the fish or the steak and you are STARVING and just want food of any sort so you have to be the one to say, " For God sake order the steak and get this dinner on the table!". . . that is what makes me nuts. Some people just can not make a decision to save their soul.
Every day we wake up and are faced with a hundred decisions starting with "Should I get up or just lie here in the bed for another hour or two?" Then there is the decision of what to wear for the day, what to have for breakfast, when to leave the house to get the maximum amount of things done that are on the "to do" list for the day. It goes on all day long ! Most of the time the decisions are not earth shattering and will not alter the universe but some times the decisions put so much pressure on one person that it causes us to drink.
For the past 50 years I have been put in the position of being the decision maker. As a mom it is a natural role to play. No problem there, my decisions only altered the lives of my three children. But no pressure ! The decisions that make me nuts are the "travel" decisions. For what ever reason the men in my life seem incapable of making spur of the moment decisions. They are great at making plans for a three thousand mile trip but when it comes to the decision to pull into THIS gas station or the NEXT gas station they are totally incapable of making a decision. We will be barreling down the road at 65 miles an hour and the man will suddenly ask, "DO I TURN HERE?". And there we have it . . . the decision is mine . . . turn or not too turn, that is the question. And the answer to that question is going to affect the next 3 hours of the journey because if I make the wrong decision we are off the beaten path and lost for eternity. (Or at least that is how I feel).
Today we took a tour into the Denali National Park. It was "interesting and unique" to say the least, And I made the decision to take this particular tour. Yesterday as we came into the park we stopped at the "bus depot" for all tours of the park. Because D has his Oxygen it is usually my job to jump out of the RV and go into the buildings to take care of business. The biggest decisions I make usually involve the size of the cup of coffee, what blend of coffee and what flavor creamer to put into the coffee. Some times when things get really tense I have to decide whether to purchase donuts or sticky buns to go with the coffee. BUT yesterday I had to make a BIG decision . . . what tour to take in the National Park. The scenario is ALWAYS the same, we discuss what we want to do as we're driving down the road, (good plan), We pull into the parking lot and as I am climbing out of the RV the man starts giving me two thousand other things to remember when I get into the building. NEVER FAILS! ALWAYS HAPPENS ! But now I'm used to this so I just put my ears on silent mode and keep moving. Once in the building the pressure is now getting intense. Will I make a good decision, will I make the "right" choice? Yesterdays decision was based on the length of the tour because we have to factor in the battery life on the oxygen machine. So I chose the 4 hour tour into the park titled "history" and something of Denali National Park. The very young girl assured me we would be traveling into the park and see lots of animals. NOT ! We got on the "tour" bus which is just a school bus painted a non discript color so it blends into the landscape. (As if the moose and other creatures can't tell there is a freaking BUS full of tourists stopped to gawk.) We leave the bus terminal and amble off into the park for 26 miles with 3 stops along the way. The three stops are basically "potty" stops and there is NOTHING outstanding at any of these places. Stop number one was a gravel path into the woods to a small log cabin that is used by the dog sled teams in the winter. There was a man stationed there to tell us about how the cabin came to be at this particular spot and that was that. The path had been made to circle around back to the parking area where the bus waited. We saw white spruce trees and lichen. You can only imagine how EXCITING this stop was. (D was smart and opted to remain in the bus where at least it was warm.) The next stop was even more exciting because we had a real live Athabaskan native girl stand on a little pile of dirt and give us a quick history lesson about her people. She was a sweet girl but it was so damn cold all I could think about was getting back to the bus. (there were also potty's at this stop.) Once back in the bus we journeyed another 10 miles or so until we came to a turn around where we headed back down the mountain only to stop once again for a potty break at a third turn off. (Nothing at all to see at this one.)
The "tour" took four and a half hours and all the wild life we saw consisted of 5 moose and a fox. The tour guide/bus driver was a young woman who, although very knowledgeable, NEVER stopped talking and pointing out trees and holes in the ground made by glaciers. By the time we got back to the bus depot I was ready to shoot myself. D never left the bus and although he never questioned the validity of this tour we both knew that this was NOT one of my better decisions.
But then again, that's what life is all about . . . never knowing where a decision will take you but being flexible enough to go with what ever you get and make the best of it. My decisions after that trip today were to return to the RV, make a nice strong rum and coke, warm up a hot dog and write this blog before I fall sound asleep for the night and hopefully block this whole day from my memory. Tomorrow is another day of our journey and I'm sure I'll be challenged with a whole bunch of new decisions that I will hopefully have more success with than today.
Every day we wake up and are faced with a hundred decisions starting with "Should I get up or just lie here in the bed for another hour or two?" Then there is the decision of what to wear for the day, what to have for breakfast, when to leave the house to get the maximum amount of things done that are on the "to do" list for the day. It goes on all day long ! Most of the time the decisions are not earth shattering and will not alter the universe but some times the decisions put so much pressure on one person that it causes us to drink.
For the past 50 years I have been put in the position of being the decision maker. As a mom it is a natural role to play. No problem there, my decisions only altered the lives of my three children. But no pressure ! The decisions that make me nuts are the "travel" decisions. For what ever reason the men in my life seem incapable of making spur of the moment decisions. They are great at making plans for a three thousand mile trip but when it comes to the decision to pull into THIS gas station or the NEXT gas station they are totally incapable of making a decision. We will be barreling down the road at 65 miles an hour and the man will suddenly ask, "DO I TURN HERE?". And there we have it . . . the decision is mine . . . turn or not too turn, that is the question. And the answer to that question is going to affect the next 3 hours of the journey because if I make the wrong decision we are off the beaten path and lost for eternity. (Or at least that is how I feel).
Today we took a tour into the Denali National Park. It was "interesting and unique" to say the least, And I made the decision to take this particular tour. Yesterday as we came into the park we stopped at the "bus depot" for all tours of the park. Because D has his Oxygen it is usually my job to jump out of the RV and go into the buildings to take care of business. The biggest decisions I make usually involve the size of the cup of coffee, what blend of coffee and what flavor creamer to put into the coffee. Some times when things get really tense I have to decide whether to purchase donuts or sticky buns to go with the coffee. BUT yesterday I had to make a BIG decision . . . what tour to take in the National Park. The scenario is ALWAYS the same, we discuss what we want to do as we're driving down the road, (good plan), We pull into the parking lot and as I am climbing out of the RV the man starts giving me two thousand other things to remember when I get into the building. NEVER FAILS! ALWAYS HAPPENS ! But now I'm used to this so I just put my ears on silent mode and keep moving. Once in the building the pressure is now getting intense. Will I make a good decision, will I make the "right" choice? Yesterdays decision was based on the length of the tour because we have to factor in the battery life on the oxygen machine. So I chose the 4 hour tour into the park titled "history" and something of Denali National Park. The very young girl assured me we would be traveling into the park and see lots of animals. NOT ! We got on the "tour" bus which is just a school bus painted a non discript color so it blends into the landscape. (As if the moose and other creatures can't tell there is a freaking BUS full of tourists stopped to gawk.) We leave the bus terminal and amble off into the park for 26 miles with 3 stops along the way. The three stops are basically "potty" stops and there is NOTHING outstanding at any of these places. Stop number one was a gravel path into the woods to a small log cabin that is used by the dog sled teams in the winter. There was a man stationed there to tell us about how the cabin came to be at this particular spot and that was that. The path had been made to circle around back to the parking area where the bus waited. We saw white spruce trees and lichen. You can only imagine how EXCITING this stop was. (D was smart and opted to remain in the bus where at least it was warm.) The next stop was even more exciting because we had a real live Athabaskan native girl stand on a little pile of dirt and give us a quick history lesson about her people. She was a sweet girl but it was so damn cold all I could think about was getting back to the bus. (there were also potty's at this stop.) Once back in the bus we journeyed another 10 miles or so until we came to a turn around where we headed back down the mountain only to stop once again for a potty break at a third turn off. (Nothing at all to see at this one.)
The "tour" took four and a half hours and all the wild life we saw consisted of 5 moose and a fox. The tour guide/bus driver was a young woman who, although very knowledgeable, NEVER stopped talking and pointing out trees and holes in the ground made by glaciers. By the time we got back to the bus depot I was ready to shoot myself. D never left the bus and although he never questioned the validity of this tour we both knew that this was NOT one of my better decisions.
But then again, that's what life is all about . . . never knowing where a decision will take you but being flexible enough to go with what ever you get and make the best of it. My decisions after that trip today were to return to the RV, make a nice strong rum and coke, warm up a hot dog and write this blog before I fall sound asleep for the night and hopefully block this whole day from my memory. Tomorrow is another day of our journey and I'm sure I'll be challenged with a whole bunch of new decisions that I will hopefully have more success with than today.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
A BLOG ABOUT NOTHING
We have been busy busy busy these past couple of days so I haven't been on line much. That coupled with the "internet" issues kept me from writing anything. The last camp ground we were in was in Seward, AK. A great little coastal town that is surrounded by mountains and ocean. It amazes me how every place we have been is just so different from the last and has such beautiful scenery. I really liked Seward as a town, Quaint and small and friendly ! We camped in a military "resort" there that was amazing. They had cabins, motel, tents, Yerts and campground. (Did you catch the "YERT" reference ?) I was walking around the camp ground checking out where everything was and got chatting with a woman who was coming out of the laundry. I asked her what the funny little buildings standing along a strip of grass were. They were cylindrical with a tent type roof. They actually looked like something you would find in a rice paddy. The woman told me they were yurts. Sort of a cross between a cabin and a tent.. They are just big enough for 2 people to sleep in. Something I have never seen before. The whole "resort" was very nice and had everything a tourist would want for the night or two that you might be there BUT their internet was terrible. That is something that ALL the places we have been in have in common. I guess the fact that we are in ALASKA might have something to do with that but in this day and age I just assume EVERYONE has internet. We have actually driven for hours without any cell phone signal because there is NOTHING around but forest, mountains and water. All of which are mind blowing in their beauty but frustrating as hell for someone like me who wants to check my mail or write a blog. The horror that I must sit for hours and just look at the amazing scenery. Good Grief !! This trip would be a night mare for my grand kids who can't get their noses out of the iPad or what ever they stare at for endless hours on end. Just think, they might have to look for moose or bear along side the road. They might have to search for the bald eagles and wolves or even, God Forbid, keep a journal because they can't text their friends.
Not to say I am not guilty of having my nose in the camera or endlessly posting pictures on facebook every time we get to a town and I can get a signal on my phone. It is just too beautiful here not to share with everyone.
Today we left Seward this morning and drove to Anchorage where we stopped to visit with a friend of D's. This tiny lady is a native of Florida and ended up in Alaska because her husband was stationed here back in the 80's. They have retired but are still here for the summers and traveling south in the winters. I really liked her a lot and it made for a nice lunch stop. We left Ruth and continued on up the road to Denali National Park where we will stay for the next two nights. Needless to say the internet is "iffy" to say the least. We are staying in a private camp ground about 7 miles North of the park because the park camp ground has no electric or water. Our RV is self contained with it's own water supply and propane heat but with no internet I draw the line. It was nice to pull into a spot, plug in and have a hot meal while watching our ROKU TV that we have finally figured out how to use. Although we have a full bathroom in the RV the shower is a challenge to keep the water in and the cold air out so I'll walk over to the bath house and shower there, I'll keep you posted on how that works out because I have to pay $4 for the shower. I got a token that goes in a box on the wall of the shower. This will supposedly give me SIX (6) minutes of "very hot" water. (Thats what the lady in the office told me. ) I'll let you know how this adventure works out.
Not to say I am not guilty of having my nose in the camera or endlessly posting pictures on facebook every time we get to a town and I can get a signal on my phone. It is just too beautiful here not to share with everyone.
Today we left Seward this morning and drove to Anchorage where we stopped to visit with a friend of D's. This tiny lady is a native of Florida and ended up in Alaska because her husband was stationed here back in the 80's. They have retired but are still here for the summers and traveling south in the winters. I really liked her a lot and it made for a nice lunch stop. We left Ruth and continued on up the road to Denali National Park where we will stay for the next two nights. Needless to say the internet is "iffy" to say the least. We are staying in a private camp ground about 7 miles North of the park because the park camp ground has no electric or water. Our RV is self contained with it's own water supply and propane heat but with no internet I draw the line. It was nice to pull into a spot, plug in and have a hot meal while watching our ROKU TV that we have finally figured out how to use. Although we have a full bathroom in the RV the shower is a challenge to keep the water in and the cold air out so I'll walk over to the bath house and shower there, I'll keep you posted on how that works out because I have to pay $4 for the shower. I got a token that goes in a box on the wall of the shower. This will supposedly give me SIX (6) minutes of "very hot" water. (Thats what the lady in the office told me. ) I'll let you know how this adventure works out.
Monday, June 3, 2019
TUBING THROUGH ALASKA WITH DW
In case you aren't sure if you are reading this right I am talking about TUBE . . . as in inner tube, raft tube or in this case OXYGEN tube. No, I have not been rafting down river rapids in a tube, nor has Mr. D. Rather we are in close quarters in the 21 ft. RV for 2 full weeks, as of today, with the man being attached to at least 200 feet of oxygen hoses. And YES, I am talking multiple hoses, not just one!
Once again I will say that "I GET IT" . The poor guy is hooked to an oxygen hose 24/7. Not a life I would choose for myself but all things considered he does not let all this get in his way. Rather it gets in MY way. LITTERALY ! If I have fallen over the damn hoses once I have tripped on them a hundred times. It isn't too bad when we are at either of our homes because there is SPACE to move around the hose, and you can SEE the hose. Note I say HOSE . . . as in ONE hose. Not so on this trip. Because the man can not breathe without oxygen it is NECESSARY to be connected to some sort of tank or machine that gives him the added oxygen required. AND because we are on the road in Alaska where you can go for hours without seeing a town, no less a hospital, it is necessary to be prepared with plenty of O2. As a result of this we have in our tiny space 2 full size oxygen concentrators that are about the size of a mini fridge on wheels AND a small portable machine that draws oxygen from the air to give D a boost when he breaths in. This little machine is only used when he walks a very short distance. For anything else he needs the O2 from the bigger machines. He only needs one machine at a time but if one machine malfunctions he needs to have a back up. I totally agree with this and I don't have a problem with these 2 machines taking up space in the RV. In fact they fit very nicely behind the drivers seat and are able to plug in with a minimum of "trip wire". The electric chord runs across the RV behind the seats so it is sort of out of the way. Add to this the plug in for the little portable machine that he keeps on the floor NEXT to the drivers seat. That one is plugged into the cigaret lighten on the dash board along with the wire from the RV back up camera. This gives us a total of FOUR (4) electric wires crisscrossing the front of the RV cab. Now add to that the 300 feet of oxygen tubes attached to all three machines and you have a recipe for disaster every time the man says, "Hey Cathie, would you climb into the back and get me . . . (insert sandwich, water, tissue or what ever else he is in need of.) The fact that we are barreling down the bumpy, winding road at 60 miles an hour is challenge enough without the added challenge of playing Double Dutch jump rope with 3 sets of hoses.
It is wonderful that the oxygen company provides all this hose, all wrapped up in a nice tight bundle until you open the plastic bag and it springs out like a King Cobra in attack mode. Suddenly there is 25 feet of plastic hose curled up on the floor like a large green slinky. It conveniently keeps its coil so it "takes up less space" BUT because it is all coiled up it is so easy to get it wrapped around your leg, shoe, ankle or any other body part that it comes in contact with .
The "aisle" in the camper between the 2 bench seats is maybe 2 1/2 feet wide. Wide enough to walk through when the camper is stationary and the hoses are coiled up on the seats. (Note I say, "HOSES" plural. ALL THREE oxygen machines have equal lengths of hose attached so that no matter which one the man is attached to he can get in and out of the RV to pump gas or help hook up the electric and water when we stop for the night." ). BUT . . . if we are hurling down the road and I need to climb out of my seat and get into the living space I almost ALWAYS find myself wrapped up in the octopus like mass of O2 tubes. I'm forever getting about 2 steps in before I feel the tug on my leg that signals the attack of the hoses. It takes me 10 minutes to untangle myself before I can move on with my mission.
But the absolute worst is in the middle of the night when the bench seats are folded down for sleep and there is only about 8 inches between the beds. I wake up and lay there deciding just how badly I have to pee. Is it really worth the battle of the hoses? Yup, got to go so I SLOWLY swing my feet onto the floor and feel around with my toes to see just where the attack hose is hiding. Sometimes I luck out and find it right away so I can grab it and place it up on top of the man but then there are those other times when either my brain is not fully awake or the hose is lying in wait to attack. I slide my feet slowly forward, feeling no resistance so I move forward and WHAM, I'm brought to a screeching stop tangled beyond belief in the dark and having to pee like a race horse.
At this point I am tempted to grab the hose and wrap it around the sleeping man's neck. So far I have resisted this urge. And so I sit, untangle from the mass of hoses and move on with my mission knowing full well that I have yet to return to the bed without killing myself.
Come morning the man wakes up fully rested and can't understand why I am still so tired. I'd rather her wrestling alligators. At least you can see them!
Once again I will say that "I GET IT" . The poor guy is hooked to an oxygen hose 24/7. Not a life I would choose for myself but all things considered he does not let all this get in his way. Rather it gets in MY way. LITTERALY ! If I have fallen over the damn hoses once I have tripped on them a hundred times. It isn't too bad when we are at either of our homes because there is SPACE to move around the hose, and you can SEE the hose. Note I say HOSE . . . as in ONE hose. Not so on this trip. Because the man can not breathe without oxygen it is NECESSARY to be connected to some sort of tank or machine that gives him the added oxygen required. AND because we are on the road in Alaska where you can go for hours without seeing a town, no less a hospital, it is necessary to be prepared with plenty of O2. As a result of this we have in our tiny space 2 full size oxygen concentrators that are about the size of a mini fridge on wheels AND a small portable machine that draws oxygen from the air to give D a boost when he breaths in. This little machine is only used when he walks a very short distance. For anything else he needs the O2 from the bigger machines. He only needs one machine at a time but if one machine malfunctions he needs to have a back up. I totally agree with this and I don't have a problem with these 2 machines taking up space in the RV. In fact they fit very nicely behind the drivers seat and are able to plug in with a minimum of "trip wire". The electric chord runs across the RV behind the seats so it is sort of out of the way. Add to this the plug in for the little portable machine that he keeps on the floor NEXT to the drivers seat. That one is plugged into the cigaret lighten on the dash board along with the wire from the RV back up camera. This gives us a total of FOUR (4) electric wires crisscrossing the front of the RV cab. Now add to that the 300 feet of oxygen tubes attached to all three machines and you have a recipe for disaster every time the man says, "Hey Cathie, would you climb into the back and get me . . . (insert sandwich, water, tissue or what ever else he is in need of.) The fact that we are barreling down the bumpy, winding road at 60 miles an hour is challenge enough without the added challenge of playing Double Dutch jump rope with 3 sets of hoses.
It is wonderful that the oxygen company provides all this hose, all wrapped up in a nice tight bundle until you open the plastic bag and it springs out like a King Cobra in attack mode. Suddenly there is 25 feet of plastic hose curled up on the floor like a large green slinky. It conveniently keeps its coil so it "takes up less space" BUT because it is all coiled up it is so easy to get it wrapped around your leg, shoe, ankle or any other body part that it comes in contact with .
The "aisle" in the camper between the 2 bench seats is maybe 2 1/2 feet wide. Wide enough to walk through when the camper is stationary and the hoses are coiled up on the seats. (Note I say, "HOSES" plural. ALL THREE oxygen machines have equal lengths of hose attached so that no matter which one the man is attached to he can get in and out of the RV to pump gas or help hook up the electric and water when we stop for the night." ). BUT . . . if we are hurling down the road and I need to climb out of my seat and get into the living space I almost ALWAYS find myself wrapped up in the octopus like mass of O2 tubes. I'm forever getting about 2 steps in before I feel the tug on my leg that signals the attack of the hoses. It takes me 10 minutes to untangle myself before I can move on with my mission.
But the absolute worst is in the middle of the night when the bench seats are folded down for sleep and there is only about 8 inches between the beds. I wake up and lay there deciding just how badly I have to pee. Is it really worth the battle of the hoses? Yup, got to go so I SLOWLY swing my feet onto the floor and feel around with my toes to see just where the attack hose is hiding. Sometimes I luck out and find it right away so I can grab it and place it up on top of the man but then there are those other times when either my brain is not fully awake or the hose is lying in wait to attack. I slide my feet slowly forward, feeling no resistance so I move forward and WHAM, I'm brought to a screeching stop tangled beyond belief in the dark and having to pee like a race horse.
At this point I am tempted to grab the hose and wrap it around the sleeping man's neck. So far I have resisted this urge. And so I sit, untangle from the mass of hoses and move on with my mission knowing full well that I have yet to return to the bed without killing myself.
Come morning the man wakes up fully rested and can't understand why I am still so tired. I'd rather her wrestling alligators. At least you can see them!
Sunday, June 2, 2019
BEEP - CHOO CHOO - HONK
Yesterday was a day of unique adventures. First a 5 hour ferry ride in almost total fog and then a ride through one of the most unusual tunnels I have ever experienced. I have been through this tunnel once before back in 2006 when G and I took a train from Fairbanks, AK to Whittier, AK as part of a Land/Sea Alaska cruise. (NO, the boat did not come up on the land, that's just how they refer to touring AK by train and then boat. Silly!) Any way. . . the train travels through some beautiful scenery but the last 10 minutes are the most amazing yet no one realizes it. You must get from one side of the mountains to the other in order to reach the sea. For decades gold miners climbed up and over these massive mountains but then in the very early 1940's someone decided there had to be a better way of doing this so in 1943 this unique tunnel was opened. The tunnel is two and a half miles long, which is not so unusual BUT it is only one car/truck/train width wide and high. The size restrictions are no vehicle higher than 15 feet or wider than 11 feet can get through. It IS large enough for a train to fit but when you think about it, trains really aren't that huge in height or width. There are probably some tractor trailers that would not fit although there are large motor homes driving through. To put it in perspective picture a hamster running through one of those large tomato juice cans. It is not an experience for the faint hearted or anyone who is even mildly claustrophobic . Get would have freaked and would have needed to be sedated and locked in the trunk for the 6 minutes it takes to go through this thing.
At each end of the tunnel there is a large parking area where cars, trucks, mobile homes and other various vehicles that are towing other various vehicles such as boats get to line up and wait for their turn to drive through. Once every hour the traffic is cleared coming from one direction and the opposite end of the tunnel is allowed to drive through. BUT . . .if you are as lucky as we were there will ALSO be a freight train waiting on the tracks next to you and it gets to go through before you. THEN you have to wait an additional 40 minutes while they clear the smoke from the train out of the tunnel with massive vents hidden GOD only knows where inside this amazing creation.
When it is your side of the mountains turn a massive traffic sigh alerts your parking lot to start filing through the teeny tiny opening in the mountain. From the parking area the opening in the mountain doesn't look big enough for a Volkswagen but since you just saw and entire freight train get swallowed up you know your little motor home should and will fit. So when it is your turn the red light in front of your lane turns green and off you go saying 20 Hail Mary's and an Our Father just to make sure. One of the most unique things about this tunnel is that when you are heading toward the entrance you suddenly realize you are merging with the rail road tracks that are now imbedded in the surface of the road so that the journey through the tunnel's one lane is done ON RAIL ROAD TRACKS !
Once inside it is dark and unlike any tunnel you have EVER been through. There are no fancy cement or tile walls like the Lincoln Tunnel in NYC, this is ALASKA so you are actually driving through ROCK. The walls are rock, the ceiling is rock and the floor is rail road tracks in a road. It is wet from the water dripping through the mountain and back in 2017 they had to close the tunnel because of falling rock. (This fact was not known by me before hand but after when I researched this man made gerbil tube I realized that those metal plates on the ceiling about mid way through were probably put there to prevent any more avalanches.
At each end of the tunnel there is a large parking area where cars, trucks, mobile homes and other various vehicles that are towing other various vehicles such as boats get to line up and wait for their turn to drive through. Once every hour the traffic is cleared coming from one direction and the opposite end of the tunnel is allowed to drive through. BUT . . .if you are as lucky as we were there will ALSO be a freight train waiting on the tracks next to you and it gets to go through before you. THEN you have to wait an additional 40 minutes while they clear the smoke from the train out of the tunnel with massive vents hidden GOD only knows where inside this amazing creation.
When it is your side of the mountains turn a massive traffic sigh alerts your parking lot to start filing through the teeny tiny opening in the mountain. From the parking area the opening in the mountain doesn't look big enough for a Volkswagen but since you just saw and entire freight train get swallowed up you know your little motor home should and will fit. So when it is your turn the red light in front of your lane turns green and off you go saying 20 Hail Mary's and an Our Father just to make sure. One of the most unique things about this tunnel is that when you are heading toward the entrance you suddenly realize you are merging with the rail road tracks that are now imbedded in the surface of the road so that the journey through the tunnel's one lane is done ON RAIL ROAD TRACKS !
Once inside it is dark and unlike any tunnel you have EVER been through. There are no fancy cement or tile walls like the Lincoln Tunnel in NYC, this is ALASKA so you are actually driving through ROCK. The walls are rock, the ceiling is rock and the floor is rail road tracks in a road. It is wet from the water dripping through the mountain and back in 2017 they had to close the tunnel because of falling rock. (This fact was not known by me before hand but after when I researched this man made gerbil tube I realized that those metal plates on the ceiling about mid way through were probably put there to prevent any more avalanches.
Saturday, June 1, 2019
TECH SUPPORT PLEASE
I'm a baby boomer who has an iPhone and a MacBook Pro and a Smart TV. (I do NOT have Alexa! I had to draw the line somewhere.) I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to technology but the ROKU TV in the RV, ( that could be a great country western song . . . "The TV in the RV") , this Smart TV has got me feeling pretty stupid.
Consider the Boomer and before generations born before 1950. We were born at a time when the TV picture was Black and White if you had a TV. Families were lucky to have one car, air planes had propellers and kids walked 5 miles up hill to school every day. The phone, (one per house if you were lucky) sat on a table in the living room and you had to stand next to it when you talked because the cord only reached about 2 feet. There were no computers, no rockets to the moon, no internet, cell phones or microwaves. It was a simple world where kids entertained themselves with a bag of marbles and a pink Spalding ball that could bounce as high as your roof. If you wanted to tell your friend something you got on your bike and rode over to their house where their mom would probably invite you to say for dinner. Since you didn't have to be home till the street lights came on you always stayed and then ate again when you got home.
The world has changed drastically for us "Old Timers" and some of us have managed to keep up with many of the changes but since things are "improving" at an alarming rate of speed many of us have just thrown in the towel. Get was a classic example of that. He barely knew how to turn the TV on and as for cell phones . . . well that was just too high tech for him. He did own a small "flip" phone but never knew how to work it. Dwayne is a bit more in tune with technology in that his phone is one step up from a flip phone, (no fancy iPhone for him). If you suggest he get an iPhone he breaks out in a cold sweat. But he does have a very good mind for mechanical things.
Enter the Roku TV . . . We are both totally at a loss when it comes to how this crazy thing works. It seems to have something to do with the internet, we have figured out that much but beyond that we are at a loss. The second or so day out in our RV we decided to give the TV a shot and tried to turn the damn thing on. That should be simple enough but for the life of us we could NOT get it to turn on. I have been told that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over with the hope of getting a different result. WE MUST BE INSANE !! There sat the two of us pointing a remote at a blank screen pushing the same button over and over with no result. After two days of this I got serious and started to try something different. I found a control panel above the TV, Then I discovered that inside a cabinet the TV was not even plugged in. By day 7 we actually were able to get the Smart TV turned on. Now it was a case of figuring out how to actually get something to play on this thing. That only took another 4 days.You should have seen the two of us when we actually got Fox News on the TV. (Naturally 'we' had to check the news before anything else.) From Fox News we managed to get Netflix. Now we were really on a roll! But when it came to trying to find a hockey game it all went to hell. For what ever reason the whole thing just fell apart and we were back to square on with NO TV reception of any kind. Being in a camp ground we had WiFi but for some reason the TV just stopped picking up the signal so it wouldn't connect. Once again the "insanity" began of pointing the remote at the TV and pushing the same button OVER AND OVER with hopes of a different result. I finally got wild and crazy and decided to think outside the box. Remembering how every time I call the cable company at home with a problem the first thing they tell you to do is UNPLUG the TV. Then UNPLUG the router and UNPLUG the modem. Since we are in an RV I had no idea if we had modems or routers so I just started un plugging and turning off EVERYTHING ! Unfortunately turning off the heat, refrigerator and the microwave had no impact on the TV. BUT turning off a switch on the TV control panel and unplugging the TV resulted in our regaining a connection just in time to catch Fox News just before D fell asleep. He missed the victory dance I did around the camper but I did it anyway.
Sadly we had to pack up this morning and leave that camp ground so we will ge to go through all this once again when we get to our next stop. Maybe he will catch my dance then.
Consider the Boomer and before generations born before 1950. We were born at a time when the TV picture was Black and White if you had a TV. Families were lucky to have one car, air planes had propellers and kids walked 5 miles up hill to school every day. The phone, (one per house if you were lucky) sat on a table in the living room and you had to stand next to it when you talked because the cord only reached about 2 feet. There were no computers, no rockets to the moon, no internet, cell phones or microwaves. It was a simple world where kids entertained themselves with a bag of marbles and a pink Spalding ball that could bounce as high as your roof. If you wanted to tell your friend something you got on your bike and rode over to their house where their mom would probably invite you to say for dinner. Since you didn't have to be home till the street lights came on you always stayed and then ate again when you got home.
The world has changed drastically for us "Old Timers" and some of us have managed to keep up with many of the changes but since things are "improving" at an alarming rate of speed many of us have just thrown in the towel. Get was a classic example of that. He barely knew how to turn the TV on and as for cell phones . . . well that was just too high tech for him. He did own a small "flip" phone but never knew how to work it. Dwayne is a bit more in tune with technology in that his phone is one step up from a flip phone, (no fancy iPhone for him). If you suggest he get an iPhone he breaks out in a cold sweat. But he does have a very good mind for mechanical things.
Enter the Roku TV . . . We are both totally at a loss when it comes to how this crazy thing works. It seems to have something to do with the internet, we have figured out that much but beyond that we are at a loss. The second or so day out in our RV we decided to give the TV a shot and tried to turn the damn thing on. That should be simple enough but for the life of us we could NOT get it to turn on. I have been told that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over with the hope of getting a different result. WE MUST BE INSANE !! There sat the two of us pointing a remote at a blank screen pushing the same button over and over with no result. After two days of this I got serious and started to try something different. I found a control panel above the TV, Then I discovered that inside a cabinet the TV was not even plugged in. By day 7 we actually were able to get the Smart TV turned on. Now it was a case of figuring out how to actually get something to play on this thing. That only took another 4 days.You should have seen the two of us when we actually got Fox News on the TV. (Naturally 'we' had to check the news before anything else.) From Fox News we managed to get Netflix. Now we were really on a roll! But when it came to trying to find a hockey game it all went to hell. For what ever reason the whole thing just fell apart and we were back to square on with NO TV reception of any kind. Being in a camp ground we had WiFi but for some reason the TV just stopped picking up the signal so it wouldn't connect. Once again the "insanity" began of pointing the remote at the TV and pushing the same button OVER AND OVER with hopes of a different result. I finally got wild and crazy and decided to think outside the box. Remembering how every time I call the cable company at home with a problem the first thing they tell you to do is UNPLUG the TV. Then UNPLUG the router and UNPLUG the modem. Since we are in an RV I had no idea if we had modems or routers so I just started un plugging and turning off EVERYTHING ! Unfortunately turning off the heat, refrigerator and the microwave had no impact on the TV. BUT turning off a switch on the TV control panel and unplugging the TV resulted in our regaining a connection just in time to catch Fox News just before D fell asleep. He missed the victory dance I did around the camper but I did it anyway.
Sadly we had to pack up this morning and leave that camp ground so we will ge to go through all this once again when we get to our next stop. Maybe he will catch my dance then.
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