Windy Nite

Wind in the Desert

8:30am - Our Nite Camp must be located in a wind corridor. There are a ton of wind generators here. Scampy was not bothered much by that wind. Perhaps remaining hooked up to Little Honda stabilized Scampy?

Morning view of Nite Camp

George is still learning about backing up a trailer. Took about 10 minutes to get Scampy turned around to head out from where we are in the pic above.

The dirt road from the highway to our Nite Camp has graded in bumps. Little Honda has to move slowly over such a road to keep Scampy from shaking to pieces! Baby Boid is very much disturbed by those bad bumps, and moves very close to George. Maybe for comfort support?

9:30am - Palm Springs

After leaving Nite Camp, we drove down the bumpy dirt road and came to the highway. That’s when we saw the sign about Palm Springs. And, decided to head there.

Since we moved to Apple Valley, we had not done a Google Map exploration for cities and towns. We looked at Google Map only to see the forests. We are surprised to find Apple Valley 90 miles from Palm Springs. This camping trip has provided us with a much clearer perspective of where we are at Lone Wolf RV Park. 

10:30am - Apple Notes to compose Blog

It was Breakfast at Denny’s this morning. Their pancakes are sooooo good!

While at Denny’s, we composed our Blog using Apple Notes. We have Blogged to you about that before. We are using notes because of AT&T data cost. If we composed using Blogger, we would have to be online and using expensive data. By having our Blog all ready prepared, when we go online we copy and paste and do a little formatting. Then publish! That’s it.

1pm - Water

Both George and Scampy need water. For George, 

a 1-gallon bottle of purified water was easy to do.

Water for Scampy, is a bit more tricky. Using Garmin GPS, we found a nearby park. We had to scout around the park for awhile. And then we found a hose bib with water near the restroom.

We never Blogged to you about our giant hose that we bought at Home Depot. It’s extremely light weight and expands to 100 feet in length! Incredible find!

Giant hose for Scampy's water

4:30pm - Morongo Casino

We have made an Afternoon Camp at Morongo Casino. Very likely, this will become our Nite Camp as well.

Morongo has a very strong Visitors Network. When we attempted to signon, a Google warning interrupted stating that the Morongo Network was not safe. “Get back to safety”, Google advised. So, that’s what we did!

With our method of preparing our Blog offline using Apple Notes, we really do not need much online time anyway. Unless we wanted to mess around online to browse.

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Nite Camp Location Link

Elevation: 1,953 feet

PS: Where is this place?
I captured the image below on November 20, 2009. Can you guess where this place is located?

Almost ready

Scampy Going Nite Camping?

10am - Everybody on the TiogaRV Team answers this question with a 

HUGE "Yes!"

Although we have not received the Pure Sine Wave Inverter, we do have an inverter inside Little Honda. We have a 50 foot extension cord. So, that means that Scampy has 120 volt electric power.

Now.... the question is, "Which direction shall we go?"

12:20pm - We went east!



2pm - Hero Market and Restaurant
We are Afternoon Camped in the parking lot of Hero Market and Restaurant.
We believe that this may be Yucca Valley, California.

Day Camp Location Link

Elevation: 3,397 feet

5pm - Desert Nite Camp
We passed thru the City of Yucca Valley. Nice looking place! We want to explore around Yucca Valley sometime.

Heading out of Yucca Valley, Little Honda read the road sign directing toward Joshua Tree National Park, and went for it.

All the while, Tioga George [With his mountains of experience and talent!] had his eyes out for our Nite Camp. Sundown is around 5:54pm this afternoon, and we try very hard never to do a Nite Camp setup after sundown.

Tioga George somehow senses a place that would be a good Nite Camp. Must be due to all of those years Boondocking and Dry Camping in Cities and  Towns and Wild Places all over the Western Hemisphere! [Hmmmmm?]

As we went down a very long steep grade on the Road To Joshua Tree, a good place came up. Only two mail boxes at the turn-off from the highway. A very good sign!

Our Nite Camp in the desert

Nite Camp Location Link

Elevation: 1,733 feet

10pm - Scampy's bed is sooooo comfortable!
Do you remember the terrible tent camp we made in the Town of Wrightwood? That horrid Nite Camp may have been the deciding factor to buy Scampy from her former owners in the City of Pomona instead of the Scamp Trailer factory in Minnesota.

Wow! We are so very happy with our Little Scampy. Camping in Scampy is so very easy. Everything we take with us has its own place. Easy to find.

The toilet! A real China toilet. Right there, ready to use.

Towing Scampy is so easy to do. In fact, everything about Scampy is easy
to do. 😀



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Glasses

Eyeglass Busted

6:30am - As I was changing Boid's food and water, I lost my balance and fell on the couch [Boid's cage is on a hook next to the couch]. When I went down, my eyeglasses [Still on my head] pressed against the couch and the temple came loose from the frame!

At first I thought that the glasses were broken. On examination what happened was, the screw that holds the temple to the frame is a "break away" screw! The metal hinge is slightly bent. But other than that, I am able to have the frame repaired!

Wow! Am I lucky 😀


9am - Target Optical
Highest priority is to get my eyeglasses fixed.

Then, buy a propane hose for the new Wave 3 catalytic heater. I've got sooooo many things to do on my plate! And of course, go camping with Scampy!

It seems to be very busy with stuff to do, is a whole lot better than having hardly anything to do!


9:30am - Boid's training
Every morning, for about 10 minutes, Boid and I go into the bathroom for his training. The bathroom is our smallest room, and Boid cannot get into much trouble there.

Using one of Boid's cage perches, I take Boid out of his cage. Boid has never been terrified of my hand. But, he is not comfortable with my hand yet. That will come, in time.

The object of Boid's daily training, is for him to accept that he is safe with me around, when he is outside of his cage. That takes time. Boid is a very tame birdy right now. In the future, Boid and I will become pals!



12:30pm - Jeweler fixed eyeglasses!
We went to Target Optical, and the tech there was NOT able re-attach the temple to the frame. And while the tech was working on the glasses, the other temple fell off!!

The tech suggested going to a jeweler. And that's what we did. Before we left Target Optical, the tech gave us several sets of tiny screws. Wasn't that a nice thing?

Then we looked for a jeweler on the net. The first jeweler that we phoned turned us down with, "We don't work on glasses!"

The second jeweler told us, "Come on in! Let's see what I can do!" This second jeweler fixed the glasses fine. Only charged $5. But we paid $20.


4:30pm - Wave 3 heater installed
We now have the newly purchased Wave 3 Olympian Catalytic Heater installed inside Scampy. You may view the installation in the pic below.

On the back of Wave 3, we installed a  couple of hooks which allow the heater to hang from a storage door or from a drawer.

When Wave 3 was tested this afternoon, it quickly became apparent that the lowest temperature setting might be too warm for Little Scampy. We'll have to give the new heater another test in order to find out.

Little iPhone captured an image
iPhone would like to share this image with you.

For the past few weeks while driving around Apple Valley and Victorville, we have been intrigued by a very white appearing mountain in the distance. But, Little iPhone has not been able to capture that image because we could not get a clear view.

This afternoon, we got a clear view. We don't know what makes the white appearing portion of this image. But we like the look of it!

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Over Nite Camping

Before We Go Camping

12 Midnite - First off, we have ordered everything on Scampy's want list. Nothing has been received yet. We want to go sooooo badly! However, there is one thing that we must have, before we go on an over nite. And that is our: 

Olympian Wave 3 Catalytic Heater 

Because we are not going to be cold when it is time to sleep! 😫

4:20am - Notice from FedEX
About Scampy's Wave 3 heater.

On vehicle for delivery!

11am - Stubborn Dude!
Sometimes, I am very stubborn! Google has a routine named "AutoFill." Using AutoFill allows the filling in of stuff like:

• Credit card information
• Address information

However, there may be a bug for users. Old information, that is no longer used by AutoFill, remains on the list. Cannot be deleted.

I stayed on my MacAir for three hours, attempting to find how to delete this stuff. It does not even affect my using AutoFill. I wanted to "Clean Up" AutoFill's listing of these addresses and credit cards. Stubborn George! 😡

11:30am - Eating better
About the time of our arrival in Apple Valley, I began a diet change. Before, I hardly ate fruits or vegetables. Still don't like/eat fruits. But vegetables, I like!

Not fresh. Sautéed lightly. Garlic added! Love that.

Breakfast this morning!

1pm - Afternoon Camped
We have made a Camp in Apple Valley's "Horsemen's Center Park." We drove out here, southwest of Lone Wolf, because it is such a joy to be doing this.

Outside, the wind is gusting. But inside Scampy, things are sooooo comfortable. The wind barely moves Scampy at all! And Scampy does NOT have the stabilizer jacks down.

Day Camp Location Link

Elevation: 3,020 feet

4pm - Wave 3 heater delivered
We figured that when the Wave 3 got here, we would be off on our first Nite Camp. Nope!

The Wave 3 needs to be provided with a flexible propane hose connector, which did not come with the heater. When we bought our Weber Grill, it came with a connector for a propane bottle.

The Wave 3 did not arrive with legs. So, we are thinking that the Wave 3 should be attached to Scampy's interior wall, in such a way that Scampy's wall is not messed up.

PS: 8:30pm- Now we are thinking that the Wave 3 should be hanging from a bracket hooked over a cabinet door. No wall damage this way.

10pm - Baking cookies
I bought a Food Network Magazine publication, titled,

"Chocolate Lover's Cookbook" 

I love to bake! My first batch will be, "Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies" with drizzled chocolate!

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Scampy stuff

Working With Scampy

9:30am - Things To Do list for Scampy:

• Buy portable vacuum
• Install small inverter for computer needs
• Buy Scampy a little tool kit
• Install a Solar battery charger/maintainer
• Research adding motor for Atwood tongue jack
• Buy eating/cooking ware 

12 Noon - Solar Battery Maintainer
The Solar maintainer in the pic below, is only for keeping this deep cycle battery at a full capacity charge. This charging unit is rated at 5-watts. 

What the 5-watt charge spec means is, that the Little Scampy battery must be at full charge before the Solar Maintainer is hooked up. Because a 5 watt solar panel is unlikely to recharge the deep cycle battery.

A holding device for the solar panel is in the works

1pm - Re-engineering Scampy's tongue jack
We are going to do [this] to Scampy's manual tongue jack!

6:30pm - Powered Tongue Jack!
Below is a pic of our plan to drive Scampy's tongue jack with an electric drill motor.

The guys at the machine shop up on Bear Valley Road, will cut off the jack handle. Then weld on the hex nut and bolt.

I will drive the jack with my drill motor using the 7/16" x 1/4" hex driver shown in the pic.

Adapter assembly for powering Scampy's tongue jack

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Day Camps

Doing Day Camps

2am - We've Blogged to you about our camping plan to Boondock in the wilds.  Sometimes, we might Dry Camp in a town. Since we most likely will not be doing much RV Park Camping, we will not have hookups.

Scampy has a large deep cycle battery, which should provide enough electric power for our 2-3 day Camps. An Olympian Camco Wave 3 Catalytic Safety Heater is on the way for warmth. FedEX is delivering the Wave 3 on Friday.

So, our plan is to do Day Camps today and tomorrow with Scampy, to find out how everything goes for us.

Yesterday we dropped off Scampy's deep cycle battery at Battery Mart, a local shop which sells and services all manner of batteries. Scampy's deep cycle battery had taken a partial charge during our trip back from Pomona on Monday. The battery needs a full charge in order to bring it up to an excellent condition. The battery will be installed back into Scampy later this morning.

Getting familiar with Scampy

Before we go out on a Day Camp, there are some things that we would like to do. One thing is to obtain a propane tank monitor for Scampy. Then, we want to check out Scampy's gas appliances. The Dometic refrigerator, water heater and furnace. 

Scampy has two stabilizing jacks in the rear. Yesterday, we had difficulty raising and lowering those jacks. Both jacks appear to be extremely difficult to manage. Today we will give the Scamp factory a phone call in order to find out what's what with the stabilizer jacks.

Also, we need to register our ownership with the Scamp factory.

Good time, all of this! 😀

12 Noon - Returned from Battery Mart
Scampy's deep cycle battery in acceptable condition. We rate it a B- because three of the six cells were more than 100 lower than the other three cells on a hydrometer test.

It may be possible, over time, to raise the three low cells a bit by keeping this deep cycle battery fully charged. A solar trickle charger was purchased from Battery Mart for this purpose.

Also, a very nice hydrometer too.

Edgar at Battery Mart working on Scampy's Battery

1pm - Bought from Amazon
We much prefer to do our shopping on the net! The selection, price comparisons, reviews are there. We even buy our shoes on the net, for goodness sakes! [Not groceries though.]

Amazon is shipping us (1) pair of Camco Wheel Chocks. Also (1) Astor Propane Tank Level Monitoring Gauge.


3:3pm - First Camp!
Little Honda towed Scampy up to the hills, to the southwest of Lone Wolf RV Park. We travelled on some pretty good dirt roads, in order to get here.

On a dirt road with a grade, we stopped to let a car behind pass. On starting up this hill again, Little Honda's drive tires slipped a bit.

We believe that this slip is a warning. We likely need a 4-WD vehicle.

George, Honda and Scampy at First Camp

Note: About our 3:30pm Blog post. That post may have left you with the impression that, because of Honda's tires slipping, Honda would replaced immediately. That's not going to happen. We want to have more experience with Honda towing.

8:30pm - Day Camp Location Map
During our MsTioga years, we had a practice of posting a "Location Link" which provided a Google Map which showed where we made our Nite Camps.

Now that Scampy is going out camping, we are continuing that practice. Here is that link for this afternoon's Day Camp:

Day Camp Location Link

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From the past

A View From The Past

4am - Yesterday evening, in the process of replying to a Reader's comment, we wanted to provide an example of MsTioga getting stuck in the mud. We were searching for a long ago Blog post of ours in which we described such an example.

However, what we found by that search, turned up to be like a "time machine" kind of experience! That Blog post, from Saturday May 14, 2005, somehow was reproduced in the format that the TiogaRV Team used back then.

It is absolutely amazing! When you read that Blog post [see link below], you'll view the Mast Head pic that we used way back in those years. It is a Mast Head pic of me standing above the Sea of Cortez on a Camp Site that we used for three winters in the Mexican Town of Santa Rosalia in Baja California del Sur. 

I believed that this Mast Head pic was gone forever. And now, like magic, that Mast Head pic shows up!

Please click [here] to go back in time to 2005!

Note: We feel that this "Back in Time" experience is sooooo important as an historical perspective of our Blog, that we are devoting today's entire Blog post to sharing that "View of the Past" with you!

BTW: The place where I am standing in the Mast Head pic,
is my garden! Made up of rocks forming paths. Cactus and plants
that I collected from the area.

That was a fun time for me. I became a part of the community!

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Same as 2003

Challenge In 2016 Same As 2003

1am - The title of this Blog post tells it all. The challenge of RVing in 2016 is the same as it was in 2003! [2003 was the year I began RVing with MsTioga]

What this means is, if an RVer is staying only in RV parks, they will be essentially going where they do not want to go and seeing what they really don't care to see.

So, where does an RVer really want to go? The answer: "Anywhere and Everywhere." There is a difference between an RVer who stays in RV Parks and an RVer who Boondocks/Dry Camps.   An RV Park type of RVer has their destination chosen for them. NOT by them, as it should be.

A Boondocking/Dry Camp RVer is able to set out in any direction, unconcerned where their Nite Camp will be. Because, this type of RVer always finds their Nite Camp.

Note: It is now 5am.  I woke up and thought about what I had written above. And realized that this concept of RVing is NOT held by hardly any RVers. Most RVers are very comfortable living in RV campgrounds where there is electric power, water and sewer. And especially, companionship and safety.

In fact, this concept of RVing is the one that I myself held in 2003 to justify my living the lifestyle described because of lack of income. It is MUCH easier for an RVer to live in RV Campgrounds. As I am doing now.

6am - Picking up Scampy
Today is the day that Little Honda and George travel to the City of Pomona, California to pick up Little Scampy!

We have had a trailer hitch installed on Little Honda in order to tow Scampy. However, we admit to you that towing Little Scampy with a Honda FIT will very likely prove NOT ideal.

The ideal tow vehicle for camping with Scampy in the wilds will have 4-wheel drive and a lot more power.


5pm - Scampy is here!
Little Honda towed Little Scampy like a champ! The trip back from the City of Pomona was a great trip. About 61 miles in 80 minutes.

Little Honda had plenty of power. Braked fine. Wow!

Scampy camped in Lone Wolf RV Park

6pm - A Scampy Blog Post!
This is Scamp's very first Blog Post. We have lights. We have a little heater to warm us up [donated by Jeanny Roy, Scampy's former owner].

We are going to watch a Scamp Manual video, to learn everything 😎.

9:15pm - Sleeping in Scampy
Tonite the plan is for George to sleep across the road in Scampy. This is part of Scampy's shake-down. To find out how things work.

The best way, is to use Scampy, and find out how things go. We'll let you know tomorrow, how sleeping in Scampy went!

First a table!

Now a bed!

10pm - In PJs with Scampy
Well, here I am over with Scampy. In my pajamas! Forgot to bring my blanket and pillows. Went back to Twayler and brought them over.

I have to admit to you, that this a kick-ass good time for me! This concept of living in Twayler, and going camping with Scampy is for me, no less than fantastic!!

MsTioga
I lived in MsTioga from 2003 to the day she ran off the road near Bakersfield, California and got destroyed. Of course during those years, I considered MsTioga to be my home.

But what I have now, is far different that those MsTioga times. I have a Home Base now [Miss Twayler] that will always be pretty close to my camps with Scampy. I will not be traveling forever, turtle-ing down the road with no Home Base to return to.

Honestly, I've not yet spent enough time with this Twayler/Scampy thing to have the meaning of it understood by my brain. It seems really deep!



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Camping Blog

Blogging On The Run

12 Midnite - When Scampy and George are out camping in the wilds, they will not have any internet connection. But, they both want to make Blog posts! How will they do that?

The plan is, to use Apple Notes to prepare and write the Blog text. Little iPhone will continue to take pics.

We will only be out in the wilds camping for two days. When we return home to Miss Twayler, we will copy/paste from Notes to our Blog posts using the actual date we were out camping.

This Blog post that we are posting right now was written using Notes at 12 Midnite, October 23rd. As a test, we are publishing this post at 2am, and back-dating it for 12 Midnite.

Let's see now.  How did that Test Blog post turned out?

NOTE: The Test Blog post turned out fine! Dated OK too. We deleted Test Blog right after checking it out.

9:45am - Using AT&T to publish our Blog

We just remembered! We may also use data from our AT&T account to publish our Blog when we are camping in the wilds!

We do not have very much data with AT&T. But, if we write our Blog text offline using Apple Notes, then copy/paste into Blogger, we likely will not use hardly any of that AT&T data!

11am - Jensen stereo and Little iPhone
Yesterday afternoon, we were messing around Jensen Stereo in our Entertainment Center [It's called "Entertainment Center" at the Bobby Combs RV Center where we found Miss Twayler. That name sounds sooooo large!].

That's when we noticed a "Bluetooth" button on Jensen. Would it be possible to send the music on Little iPhone thru Jenson's sound system? When we turned on iPhone's Bluetooth, out it came. Beautiful songs from the movie, "Boyhood". 

We especially like the song, "Hero" from the Boyhood movie. 

Click [here] to see and hear this music video.

Note: Since then, we have played "Hero" a zillion times!


5:30pm - First rain of the season
Several things worthy of mention happened today. First, Baby Boid and George spent time in the bathroom together. This together in the bathroom thing is becoming an everyday happening for Boid and George. It's necessary to do this until Boid becomes understanding of what is expected of him.

Boid is not afraid at all in going in and out of his cage. He does need to get more familiar with the process. Because at this point, Boid really does not grasp how to exit and enter his cage. All in good time!

We worked a bit on the assembly of the wood supports for the steel full extension slides. The plan was for iPhone to take pics to show you what is going on. However, a sudden rain shower had us hurriedly putting all our stuff away and going inside Twayler where it is dry and warm.



7:30pm - In the rain
It has always been a joy for me to camp out in the rain. I first became aware of that joy when I reached about 30 years. My family had a heavy canvas tent. The four of us went camping in that tent. To Sequoia National Park. And other forest places in Southern California.

I recall clearly, the sound of raindrops on my tent. I just lay there in my sleeping bag. Listening to those rain drops. That sound brought to me a feeling of comfort. And safety.

It is the same this evening. Inside Miss Twayler. The raindrops on the roof. The warmth and safety of being inside. Oh my!



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Closet

Convert Closet To Storage Space

7am - When we first moved into Twayler. the two bedroom closets were where we hung clothes. Since those closets were sooooo small, most of the clothes were in piles on the bed.

We bought a round piece of wood that is perfect for hanging clothes. That round wood is now installed near the ceiling in the bedroom. All of our clothes are hanging there now.

When the two closets were emptied of clothing, the depth of those closets surprised us. 32" deep!

We are planning to convert these two closets to a storage space with perhaps three shelves in each closet.

12 Noon - Boid and George
Guess who is outside with his cage suspended from a pine tree limb? Why it's Baby Boid!

Reader Nancy1340 commented that Boid would like it there! When Boid read that comment, he wanted to go up in the pine tree sooooo bad! How could we refuse?

Who loves Baby Boid?

2pm - Thinking about absolutes
On Friday, October 14th, my 11:30am Blog post stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy.

I prefaced that post with this statement:
"Dear Reader:
The things listed below, are NOT rules that MUST be followed."
However, despite this "Dear Reader" disclaimer, several comments latched on to one of my examples, and may have interpreted that example about "breaking promises" as the point of that post.

IT WAS NOT THE POINT!

What that post is about, is my desire to share my life with you. And in that post, my point is:

To get absolutes out of my thinking and out of my life.

What are absolutes?
Absolutes may be things that are taught to us by, Mothers, Fathers, teachers, religious leaders. They are stuff that influences and directs our life. They become toxic, when the absolute MUST be followed despite anything. Despite all reason.

How do I get absolutes out of my life?
Before I do anything, I examine that thing by asking myself:

• Is this what I really want to do?
• Do I really know why I want to do this?

An example which I followed all of my life. But stopped recently:
****I was taught that I must finish all of the food in my plate.****

I was able to turn away from the food in my plate by asking myself one question!
George, "Are you hungry?"

Since I began asking myself that question, my body weight has gone from around 190 lbs to 165 lbs. That was only within the last year!

NOTE: I am not bragging by sharing this example. I am sharing.
ONLY SHARING!


10pm - My best time!
This afternoon I dropped into Lone Wolf's office to get my mail. Sissy, the office manager, was sorting mail that had been delivered for tenants, into a case.

I mentioned, "I used to do that for a living. 1959 to 1963. I was a Los
Angeles city postal clerk, and distributed mail just as you are doing now. In a case similar to your case. But I worked a whole lot faster!"

Sissy looked a bit perturbed, and asked me, "Are you complaining?" "No!", I answered. "I didn't say that right. I worked faster because there was a supervisor walking up and down the aisles."

I added, "I have nothing to complain about. Anyway, this the best time of my life! Right now!"

Sissy gave me a big smile. "That's wonderful, George. I hardly hear anything but complaints about how bad things are."


It is my best time!
As I drove away from that office, what just happened was rolling around in my brain. Was that true, what I explained to Sissy? Is this my best time?

Sorting thru the times of my life, and comparing them to now, I knew that it was true! I just never did the math before.

This is the best time of my whole life! Good to know. Amazing miracle for me! That little chat with Sissy.

This guy's best time!

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Dish Network

50GB Dish Net Data 2am to 8am

5am - It's amazing how much data we use doing ordinary things. For example, often doing nothing uses data like crazy! That's because, if MacAir or iPhone are connected to Dish Network, there are background services that may use data. An update, for example.

So, we have taken on this challenge by simply turning off the Dish Network connection to MacAir and iPhone.

However, as the title to this 5:30am Blog post indicates, we have 50GB of data per month for use only during the time period of 2am to 8am. That's how we are connected to the net right now.

5:30am - Little Boid predicts

We don't really believe that Baby Boid actually has an IQ of 177 as was stated in yesterday's 9pm Blog post. But he is a really smart boid!

Boid predicted that the TiogaRV Team would be squared away by the end of today. That seems to be a very good call.

There are only two items to be done to get to squared away condition:

1. Complete installation of the 2nd full extension drawer
2. Install shelves into the two bedroom closets

1st Full Extension Drawer
A close examination of the slide hardware yesterday evening, turned up that we may have installed those slides incorrectly in the first drawer. This will require disassembly of that drawer.

However, this will not be a big job. Because in all this drawer work that we have been up to lately, we've figured out how to do this stuff easily.

5:15pm - Did Boid's prediction come true?

Did George complete the 2nd drawer? Did he? Did he?  And is the TiogaRV Team squared away?

Not even close!






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Getting square

Slowly Getting Squared Away!

1am - It's taking a lot longer to get everything squared away with Miss Twayler, than was anticipated. The main reason that it is taking sooooo long, is George does not actually get his engine going until around noon time!

Even George himself doesn't understand what this "noon" thing is all about! But it's there, nevertheless.

Take what happened today, for example. A project for closing Twayler's screen door that was begun on October 9th was finally completed yesterday, October 19th.

Screen Door Closing Project

First this project had to be designed. We planned to use an ordinary pneumatic screen door closer.  That closer did not have enough movement. So we upgraded to a more expensive pneumatic closer. We did not like the way that one moved the screen door either, because the screen door did not open complelely. So, two days later we installed a regular ordinary cheap screen door spring.

That spring worked good! But at that point came an engineering change. We wanted to have the screen door closer, also close the main outside door. In order to do that, we decided on a magnetic door catch.

On October 13th we found a perfect magnetic door catch on Amazon. This magnetic catch had a 40 lb pull! We ordered it. However, before that magnetic catch arrived, another engineering change required a 2nd magnetic catch which was ordered from Amazon on October 16th.

This first catch, held the entrance door to the screen door. And when these two were magnetically attached, the screen door spring closed both of them. But the door spring did not close the doors completely. They were slightly ajar, allowing flies to enter. That's the reason that a second magnetic catch was ordered from Amazon. To close the door(s) completely.

The first magnetic catch was easily installed. But the 2nd magnetic catch required some figuring, in order to install. Just yesterday, George figured how to install that 2nd catch. That installation required the purchase of a hand saw and a piece of wood. [See pic below]

The "Screen Door Closing Project" was fially completed yesterday afternoon. October 19th. Nine days after this project began!

See what I mean? All George's projects go like this. They take longer than we believe that they should take to complete!

Things take longer as we age

Yes, it is my personal experience that, I slowed down as I got older. I don't know why? But, I am positive that this is true. At least for me it is.

Perhaps this slowing down comes about because the urgency to get stuff done seems to greatly diminish the older I got.

Misplaced Stuff
Another thing that causes things to go slower, is misplaced stuff. I do not know the "why" of Misplaced Stuff? All I know is, that for some reason, where I place many things is not recorded in my memory. When this happens, I either just forget that thing until it just shows up. Or, I go around trying to locate it. Which of course, takes time!

This 2nd catch, keeps the door(s) from being ajar

9:30am - Today's project

To make a "To Buy" list of the wood needed to make the engineering change for the second full extension slide out drawer.

You may recall, that a change is necessary because the slide hardware is too long to fit in the pass thru storage area, back to back. This change will allow the slide hardware for the 2nd drawer, to go "above" the hardware for the 1st drawer.

Sounds complicated? I hope to take pics showing what is going on so that you may understand. 

5pm - Assembling 2nd slide out drawer

This afternoon at Home Depot, we came across a Black & Decker jig saw priced at $26!! ¿How could we resist that price?

Because of now owning that jig saw, we were able to cut down the re-engineered 2nd drawer that we Blogged to you about this morning right here in Twayler's front yard. Wow! We love that 😍!

Baby Boid watches as George assembles the 2nd slide out drawer

9pm - Little Boid predicts!
We know that you will find this impossible to believe. But, Little Boid turns out to have a super genius IQ! 177 is Little Boid's actual IQ.

And, Little Boid has come out with this prediction:

The TiogaRV Team will be squared away by tomorrow afternoon!

Could Little Boid be wrong? Tioga George says:

"I am with Little Boid's prediction. Boid is a super genius!"

George says, "Little Boid is 100% right."

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Sleep

A Good Nite's Sleep

7:30am - George spent a wonderfully comfortable nite sleeping in his bedroom on the new memory foam mattress.

Baby Boid also spent a good nite sleeping.  His first nite with Miss Twayler!


About Baby Boid
Baby Boid is a very calm dude. There is a very good reason why Baby Boid is so calm.

He is a very young boidy! Because Boid is very young, he did not spend very much time living at PetSmart. And so, did not have time to get acclimated to the fear of having hands come near him. And seeing others in his cage get grabbed and taken away.

And because of his lack of fear, Baby Boid does not appear to be afraid of George at all. We believe that Boid will quickly become comfortable eating his seeds from George's hand. That's how it begins, you know. Step by step.

8:30am - Baby Boid out of cage

In order for Boid to become happy to be around me, he must come out of his cage. This happens in a small room. Our bathroom is the perfect size!

I used one of Boid's cage perches, a stick about 15" long. Slowly moving the perch, placed it against Boid's breast, saying, "Jump." Then gently pushed the perch so that Boid would step on to it. 

Then, with Boid standing on the perch, slowly moved Boid out of the cage. Then, slowly, I moved my face to Boid and kissed his back. Boid did not fly away! He smells sooooo sweet!

11am - Camping in the forest with Scampy
We on the TiogaRV Team, do not research places to camp. We just go, and find! In fact, we do not want to know what is up ahead. Ruins the excitement, don't you think?

Since we began RVing in 2003, it has been the same. We drive along, and when we see someplace nice, make our Nite Camp! We might only travel 10 miles, and find our Nite Camp. That's OK for us.

When we go to pick up Scampy next Monday [24th], we will be ready to camp. And likely, camp out for a couple of nites.


4:30pm - The wind did it!
Just a few moments ago, Boid [new Boid] and I were together outside enjoying the beautiful afternoon. Suddenly, a strong wind came up. Only for a few seconds did that wind blow hard. But in those seconds, the wind toppled the ficus tree next to Boid's cage. I reached out and caught the ficus, preventing it from pushing over Boid's cage!

We believe that we now understand how Little Boid [old Boid] met his fate. Of course, we likely shall never know exactly how Old Boid's fate turned out. But we may imagine, right?

We imagine that Old Boid, with his superior brain, ruled over all the local boids like a king. And lived happily ever after.

The end

Little Old Boid on a better day

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Mattress

Missing Mattress Mystery

7am - The sleeping plan for Miss Twayler was, sleep on the pull out sofa bed. That did not work. It was just to hard for me to open that sofa into a bed! So, I have been sleeping on the sofa part of the sofa/bed. Not too bad. Not great either.

A mattress was ordered from Amazon. But mysteriously, that mattress never arrived?! It got close though. Post Office delivery left a notice that "Mail box is full, could not deliver the package."

Strange notice! A mattress in a mailbox?

That mattress delivery mystery, went on for several weeks. Then we cancelled the Amazon mattress, and ordered a mattress from Banner Mattress, here in the Town of Apple Valley, CA. That Banner mattress is scheduled for delivery today.

7:30am - Slide out re-engineering
We have not Blogged to you recently about our full extension drawer slide out project. That's because that project got a bit stymied. 

We bought two sets of four foot long full extension slide hardware. When we began the installation of the second drawer, it was learned that Twayler is 8-feet wide on the outside. On the inside of the pass thru storage area, the dimension is about 4" less!

So, we had to figure out how to fit the two sets of 96" long hardware into a 92" space. 

At first this seemed to be an impossible task! But then we came up with a solution.  Raise the second drawer's hardware to a position above the height of the first drawer's hardware!

This solution requires that the 2nd drawer's length be reduced to fit. We may do the installation of the 2nd drawer today.

11:30pm - Mattress guy arrives

Boid and George were catching some rays out front of Twayler, when the two mattress guys showed up.

The guys put the mattress in its place in the bedroom. Now we are going to Home Depot and buying some wood for the mattress install.

3pm - Boid is gone, long live Boid!
On returning from shopping, we found Boid's cage had toppled off of the stool that it was sitting on. The cage and Boid were outside.

Apparently a wind came up which knocked over Boid's cage. Seems impossible that a wind could be that strong. But that's what happened!

When the cage hit the ground, the door slid open. Boid is gone! 😩

We are now headed over to PetSmart to look there for our little Boid. We think he may have flown over there. We'll let you know!

PS: Commenters have suggested that perhaps a bird of prey or a dog or cat could have done this dirty deed!


5pm - Boid is back!
Well, not exactly the same parakeet that has been living here for the past several weeks. Same blue color. But, much, much younger.

This new Boid is only about 3 to 4 months old. I am able to tell new Boid's age by his cap [head] feathers which have stripes which go all the way down his head to his cere above his beak. Old Boid had a pure white cap [no stripes], showing that he went thru his first molt and was likely 8-months to 1-year old.

Be well, old Baby Boid! Be well.


11:30pm - Each in their own bed

New Baby Boid has his cage covered, and is going to sleep in Twayler's front room.

For the very first time, George is going to sleep in his bedroom. On the new mattress.

All is well in our World.


PS: We say a prayer for Old Baby Boid, who may have met disaster this afternoon. We will never know for sure what happened to Baby Boid.

We pray that his guardian angel is watching over him. 

Hitch

Little Honda Hitch Day

7:30am - This morning, Little Honda has an appointment at A&B Hitch in the nearby City of Hesperia. A towing hitch is being installed.

There have been quite a few suggestions in our comments and in email, about alternatives to the Twayler/Scampy plan. Also, warnings about using Little Honda as a tow vehicle for Scampy.

We have not just cast these comments and warnings aside. Our plans, although extremely attractive and exciting, are not yet cast in stone.

6pm - Hitch pic
While down at the hitch place, I talked about a brake controller. After we pick up Scampy, the plan is to return here and check out installing a controller.

Click pic to enlarge

7:30pm - Changed my archive format
My archive format now lists by the month. The archive is at the far right side.

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the monthly list, to the very last month, you may easily find my very first Blogger post in May, 2003.


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Our New Plan

Life With Twayler & Scampy

6am - Do you remember our October 3rd tent camping disaster? That was when we camped near Wrightwood, California in the Angeles National Forest. We wanted to have a nice camping trip sooooo bad! But that event went wrong. What was missing?

Right after that horrible tent camp, was when it was decided to buy Scampy. Because in order for us to camp, we must have creature comforts! Right then was when it dawned on us, that we might be about to embark on what could possibly become for us:

"The perfect RV life!"

As our plan began to evolve and take shape, the opportunities of having a Home Base in Miss Twayler and a Camping Base in Scampy overwhelmed us!! We still have not worked out everything. But we have a tiny glimmer of what could be!

The concept

Please understand that at this point in time, that our plan for The Perfect RV Life is in the conceptual stage. Whether this concept shall evolve into our destiny, is still up in the air.

How will it work?

We will research a location for our Home Base. And then, when that Home Base location is determined, The Team will move there for an undetermined length of time. 

Miss Twayler will be towed by a moving service [Example: Our move from La Mesa to Apple Valley]. Scampy will be towed by Little Honda. Miss Twayler will remain at the Home Base location for as long as we wish. 

Little Honda and Scampy will go out on exploring excursions of the area around that Home Base [ie; boondocking, street camping, RV park camping]. These excursions likely shall be 2-days long. Then return to Miss Twayler at our current Home Base. Scampy might remain at Home Base for several days, and then, go out on another excursion,

When the time is right, we shall find a new home base location. Ad Infinitum!

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Scampy

Scampy Is Coming

7:45am - You may already know about our newest Team Member, "Scampy." In our Blog comments, we spilled the beans about the October 24th arrival of a 13' Scamp Trailer. This Blog post, is our first about Scampy.

On October 24th, we will be driving to Pomona, California. That is where Scampy's owner resides. 

We have made an arrangement with a tow hitch company in the City of Hesperia, to install an appropriate hitch on Little Honda FIT.

Little Honda is not approved by Honda Motors for towing here in the United States.

The Honda Jazz [same car as FIT], is approved by Honda Motors for towing in Europe.

Note: You may learn more about Scampy by clicking [here]. In the plan views, Scampy is the plan titled: "13' Front Bathroom."

9pm - Mountain View
Late this afternoon, we were almost to the entrance Lone Wolf. Little iPhone got all crazy about the mountain view.

It's only when the Sun is low in the sky, that the light across the mountainside creates the shadows that drive Little iPhone nutsy boidle.

Click on pic to enlarge

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New User

Takes Time To Learn

A new user will find that it takes time to understand how to use a purchased electronic device. Doesn't matter how many years you have under your belt with electronic stuff. A new user must just go at learning until how to use, is figured out.

With the Dish Network that was installed yesterday, came a MODEM and router. The router could inform who is on the network, but not authorized. 

In order to find out that "who" the router must be registered. The directions were, go online and complete a registration. This is the simplest of things. No learning curve here, right?

Wrong! Gonna need help from Doug The Cable Guy.

Download router app 

The reason for doing that registration was, the downloaded router app would would not work. 

Sequence:

• Wanted to find out who may be using the new network
• Downloaded router app which tells who
• Unable to register the app. Sign in button would not work.
• Use Mac Air to go online to Router Manufacturer's site to get info
• Router manufacturer's website requires registration first, to get info
• Registration requires a purchase invoice to be uploaded
• We have no purchase invoice yet

That's how our learning curve went for finding out if an unauthorized person is using our new network. Stopped by not having a purchase invoice.

Gotta love it!

8am - Phoned Jojoba office

We went on the waiting list for membership at the Jojoba Hills Escapee Park on September 15th. Our list number on that day was: #34.

We just phoned to find out our present number. We are now, #31. In one month, we moved from #34 to #31!

Yippeeee!

11:30am - Sharing a lifetime of learning

Dear Reader:
The things listed below, are NOT rules that MUST be followed.

For a pleasant, easy and calm life:

• There are very few things that must be done immediately.
• Most things, do not have to be done immediately, or at all.
• There are no appointments that must be kept.
• Don't rush to avoid being late. Just reschedule.
• A promise does not have to be kept. Just say, "I changed my mind!"
• If something that you are doing is difficult, harassing, or a pain in the ass, stop doing it.
• If you feel tired, stop whatever you are doing and rest.
• If somebody is difficult to deal with, stop dealing with that person.
• If you drop something, it is not necessary to pick it up immediately.

There are a lot more of these things. You DO NOT need us to know them. Just make them up for yourself.

All you need, is to be extremely sensitive to what is good for you. What is NOT good for you. We Tiogans always ask ourselves before we do something: 

"Is this something that I really want do? Want to do right now?"

1:30pm - Slide Drawer Adjustments
The front of the drawer was too close to the outside storage compartment door. A drawer handle would not fit. The drawer is being moved backward about 1".

George doing a little woodworking

15:45pm - Boid loves Pandora's Johnny Cash
Everyday, Boid asks to go outside. He goes nutsy Boid'll out there. Boid flirts with the Lady Hummers when they fly by to sip our sweet nectar.

Boid often requests us to play the Johnny Cash station on Pandora Radio. Boid is a lover of country music. He goes crazy for Jerry Reed's, "East Bound and Down."

Baby Boid loves music!

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Dish Coming

Dish Satellite Internet

In a couple of hours, an install guy is coming to site A53 at Lone Wolf RV Park. We have subscribed to Dish Satellite Internet. The install guy will place the dish and hook us up.

We have been using Little iPhone's Personal HotSpot to gain internet access. And our AT&T billing has been going been going "USE" crazy! 

Up, UP, UP!

We suspect, that a neighbor here at Lone Wolf was able to hack into that HotSpot. That's part of the reason for the Dish Network installation this morning.

The main reason is that with Dish, we get 50Gb/month high speed internet access. And, when we move to Jojoba Hills Escapee Resort, we will be able to use our Dish Antenna there too! 

USB Personal HotSpot

This morning we switched from Personal HotSpot thru WiFi, to Personal HotSpot thru USB. We hope that this change, causes some grief to our neighbor who has been "borrowing" our internet access connection!!


1pm - Action List
Our Action List is getting mighty small! Everything around Miss Twayler is getting sooooo squared away.

Very likely, we never would have gone to Dish Satellite Internet, if that neighbor/crook had not stole so much of our AT&T data. But, now that we have Dish, and all that goes with it, we are sooooo happy we are here!

We now have:

• Apple TV
• NetFlix
• A New Sound Bar with wireless bass speaker [Bought from Doug The Cable Guy]
• A personal Wireless Network. Our Apple Time Machine automatic backup connects thru that Network

Doug the Cable Guy

2pm - New Apple TV
I wanted to buy the New Apple TV with the new remote. These products are extremely easy to find on the net. And easy to buy also.

However, I could not find them on the net!! I tried phoning Best Buy. Nobody answered the phone. Tried an Apple Store. Nobody answered that phone either!

Then..... I stopped. And realized that, for whatever reason, my Guardian Angel did not want me to buy this Apple Stuff today. That's why I was getting all of these challenges!


Guardian Angel

This kind of thing [New Apple TV] happens to me all the time. My Guardian Angel watches out for me. I know this is true, because ........... [Sorry, I am not supposed to share intimate info about my Guardian Angel!]

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