Uh-oh! The printer died!

Well, actually, the black ink still works, so we can print documents. Just the color has stopped working. And only the magenta has stopped flowing, so my photos have taken on a sunshine-yellow tint. Very yellow, with no red. The green trees are blue and the reds and oranges are very yellow. So I probably can't print any photos or cards until we get back to Arizona. I'll be OK without the printer, a Canon i960 photo printer that I just love!

Rick took the 6 ink cartridges (tanks) out, refilled them and found that the magenta was almost out (without a warning). I did some research on the Internet to find out about the print head failure and why the magenta nozzle might be stopped up. Rick soaked the print head in isopropyl alcohol and Windex for a long time and then used canned air to blow through the print head nozzle. After a few deep cleaning cycles, still no luck. We'll wait until we get to the big city to replace it. This won't stop me from taking photos and luckily I had just printed some photos to display and created some photo greeting cards. Of all the electronic devices we have, I guess this is the one I won't miss too much.

Why Blog? part 1

I started this blog about 2 years ago when we were only thinking of retirement. I created the first posting in October 2007, but didn't do much with it. I thought a blog would be an easy way to share our travel adventures with family and maybe friends. Cell phones are good, but we've got a lot of family. And we can share photos and videos with a blog. So I thought I'd give it a try.

Another reason for this blog was so that I'd remember where we'd been and what we'd thought about it. Back in 1985 when we retired the first time, we went everywhere, and we went quickly. We moved around so much and visited so many places that I don't remember it all. Back then I kept a written journal and the daily entries quickly started sounding the same. "Visited nice campground, met nice people, saw the sights." I figured this blog-thing would be a good way to keep a record for ourselves of our trips.

Setting up a blog on Google is an easy process. 1-2-3 and it's done. Last spring while we waited at Guaranty RV Service Center in Junction City, Oregon for our motorhome I showed a few people how to create a blog. I jokingly said it's a class called "The blog you never knew you needed." It can be a lot of work and it can be a lot of fun. Some people update their blog everyday, some once a week, some even less often. Some are photographers sharing their art, some are gardeners and cooks, some are moms with young children sharing stories and advice. Some are retirees traveling in their RV's. I've even found a few fly fisher people sharing their fishing tales.

There are many reasons to blog. Some bloggers want to share their adventures, tell their story, voice their opinions, and check off their accomplishments. Some make money by selling their wares on-line and attract many visitors and receive lots of comments. Many have lots of interaction on their blogs with their "followers" and develop friendships. Some bloggers put ads on their sites and get some type of payment from the ad companies based upon clicks or visitors. I don't get too many visitors nor do I get many comments, which is OK with us. Every so often another blogger mentions my blog on their blog and I should do more of the same. I should reciprocate, especially when I find their blog informative. It's nice when someone thinks our blog is interesting.

I know there are many who know more about blogging choices than I do. Perhaps some of you who are reading have a blog or have thought about starting a blog. I'm not going to do a lot of research on blogging facts, something you can look up yourself if you're interested in stats or numbers. Instead, as with all my posts, I'm just sharing my thoughts and experiences. I think I'll post again on this subject because I get lots of questions about blogging. I have more to say and will try to answer some of the questions I get asked about blogging. Thanks for stopping by.

Rainy Sunday

Sunday, my day to sleep in, as Rick says. I did sleep in and when I finally got up I made my famous "angler's sandwich" for brunch. It was cold and drizzly outside and the entire day was spent inside our mobile fishing lodge. I had planned to bundle up with a blanket and a book, but its late in the night now and I never opened the book. I started out with some delicious coffee (sweetened only on Sundays) and soon was working on computer issues for family. I won't name names, but you know who you are. I was happy to help with some digital photo issues, helping to create greeting cards, and a couple other special projects I can't divulge. Rick also did some "family computer support" and the timing was good. We'd already decided that today would be a day off from fishing. What better way to spend the day than with family, even if it was long-distance.

My angler's sandwich consists of grilled ham, grilled onion, cheese and scrambled egg on grilled bread, all made in a skillet on the stovetop. Easy to make in the motorhome or on a griddle over a campfire. I start out warming the sliced ham and thinly sliced onion in the skillet. I remove those ingredients and set aside with the cheese on top. I scramble the eggs and place that on the other stacked ingredients. I place one piece of bread, buttered side down, in the skillet and add the stacked meat, cheese, onion and egg and top with the other piece of bread. Turn when the bread is grilled to your liking. I got the idea for the sandwich from a little corner convenience store/gas station in Shelley, Idaho. We used to stop in there with Eric before floating the river and they made a "farmer's sandwich" which had everything on it, including bacon, sausage and hashbrown potatoes, wrapped in foil and it would last you all day. Mine are made with whatever I have on hand and usually a little smaller. One of Rick's favorites.

Communication Outage for a day

I think this is the first time that we've been without phone or Internet communication in a long time, maybe forever. Even when we've been in areas with limited or sparse coverage, we've been able to put up the Wilson antennae and get a weak signal. But we learned today that all electricity to the nearby tower facility had been knocked out yesterday and there was no communication at all for Verizon and a couple other carriers. It was out for almost the entire day! Right after midnight one of the phones regained consciousness and it woke me up with its chime.

Neither one of us are big users of cell phones. We don't text or Twitter. We use the phones as phones for talking with family and friends. Just this week I saw a TV show about families that were addicted to electronic devices like cell phones, video games, the Internet and they had stopped talking to each other in person and had stopped eating meals together. Pretty sad, but I had a tiny glimpse of going without Internet for a few hours. The TV show had them give up their gadgets for a week or 2 and the family members grew closer to each other and spent time together. They ended up being happier without all the electronic toys and gadgets.

We were on the river fishing for most of the day, but when we got home I wondered what I'd do without the Internet. Well, I read a book and I played with my digital photos a little and prepared some new greeting cards to print, but mostly read the book. Rick was happy because he's always reading or tying flies. He didn't miss the phone or the Internet for that short time. The electricity wasn't out in the campground so we had satellite TV to entertain us (like we need TV to entertain us??). I realized how much I "enjoy" my laptop and the Internet. For a while I kept thinking that I could use the computer and look something up (a fly pattern, something about the camera, a map, a fishing report), but then I'd say "nope, no signal." I admit I do turn it on in the morning to check news and email, but then I don't think about it at all while on the river. When we get home in the afternoon I again check the news and email, and upload any photos from the cameras. Perhaps I should spend less time on the computer and set aside time to read more books. Perhaps I should do less blogging. Maybe I'll work on a healthy balance between all activities. Maybe I'll fish more, read more and use the computer less. Maybe.

April Fools Day

No pranks or jokes here! And it seems the feared computer virus wasn't the threat it could have been. The Conficker worm has been around for a while, but if you've kept up with your Microsoft security patches you should be safe. The patch was distributed by MS last October or November and although the hackers have created variants of the Conficker worm, it seems the threat didn't come to fruition today as expected. I read that the criminals who created it are fairly smart (at least for hackers) and the threat could explode on another date, when we're least expecting it. I looked at the McAfee.com website and found that their Stinger.exe should fix this problem. If you cannot access McAfee, Microsoft or another security website like Norton, you might be in real trouble since that's one of the indicators that you might be infected with the Conficker worm.

I've heard that the largest number of computers infected with the worm are in Europe and Asia. The worm tracks all your keystrokes (passwords, etc) and reports back to the hacker domain, making your files and accounts very vulnerable.

No guarantees from me since all PC's are different (and I don't do this as a tech anymore), but keep up with your anti-virus software updates and with the Microsoft patches to try to be safe. Expecially if you send me email.

Tire Pressure Monitoring System

Some friends sent me a question about tire pressure monitoring systems so I thought I'd answer here. They remembered we had a tire pressure system and asked which one we use and wanted to know about our experience with it. We met them last year at a Thousand Trails park when we noticed that we had similar motorhomes. We struck up a conversation and started comparing motorhome features, floor plans, and modifications.

There are a few different types of tire pressure monitoring systems, but I'm only familiar with the one we have and it's made by Advantage PressurePro. http://www.advantagepressurepro.com/

We've used it for more than a year and we feel it's done a very good job for us and the company has provided good customer service. We have the 6 wheel system for the motorhome and 4 additional sensors for the tow vehicle (toad). The small sensors screw onto the valve stems of each tire. The small flat monitor is attached to the left of my driver's seat with Velcro and is very easy to check the status of each tire. Because our motorhome is only 36' we don't need an additional receiver to get the signals from the toad, but larger motorhomes might need it.

We purchased our system at an FMCA rally from one of their many dealers. They were very helpful in answering our questions and getting the system set up initially. It may seem a little complicated when you first learn about it, but after you've changed the pressure in your tires and reset the sensors, or changed out a couple sensors, you see how simple it really is. You set the monitor when the tire pressure level is where you want it and it has thresholds for low and high settings. If it reaches a specific low or high level, an alert is activated. There were a couple times when we were parked overnight in Montana and the outside temperature dropped quite a lot and I'd left the monitor on. The beeping alert got me out of bed because the cold weather had caused one tire to drop pressure more than 12%.

From the Advantage PressurePro website you can read all the details and see photos of the components and accessories. I noticed from their press release section that you can even get the system from Costco.com. And they price seems really good from Costco.

It's a convenience to be able to check the tires any time we want from inside the motorhome. Rick also manually checks the tires every so often with a gauge to double-check the monitor. On the mornings before we get on the road it's one of the first things we turn on. We've heard about the horror stories of tire blowouts with motorhomes. It's very reassuring to know that we've taken another precaution to keep us safe. A sudden change in tire pressure, low or high, will sound an alarm. Just another way to keep us, and others on the road, safe.

FREE Annual Credit Reports

You could say that this is another PSA or Public Service Announcement.

Every 12 months you can get a free credit report from each of the 3 credit reporting agencies = EquiFax, Experian, and TransUnion. The Internet website is https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

I think the easiest method is on the Internet, but you can request the reports by phone or in writing. We spread them out throughout the year with Rick getting his from one agency and I get mine from another agency. Supposedly the 3 agencies share information between themselves, so we feel we're keeping a closer eye on our data by spreading them out.

If you've never gotten a report for yourself you might find some interesting information. It's easy and it's free. Give it a try and protect your private information.

Stand in Line?

It doesn't matter who you voted for, I just hope you exercised your rights and voted.

If you stood in line at your polling place to vote, but wished you didn't have to, read on. (Uh-oh! Sounds like another PSA.) The television is showing very long lines of patient people waiting to cast their votes, but it doesn't have to be that way for you.

You probably know this, but just in case you don't, I'll share this with you. You can request an absentee ballot, sometimes referred to as a vote-by-mail ballot, and avoid those election-day lines. You can complete your ballot in the comfort of your home, at your leisure, and mail it.

What if something happened on voting day and you couldn't get to your voting location? I like to think that voting is very important to you and if you can do it the easy way, why not? We've used this method for years and love it. We don't miss shuffling our schedules or standing in line in order to vote. Or the check-in process, with someone verifying who we are. And heaven forbid, you go to the wrong polling location and then have to find where you really should be.

Give it a try now, go on-line and ask for your mail-in-ballot, while the memory of standing in line is fresh in your mind.

Unanswered questions & musings

It's been a few days since I've posted and I'd gotten so used to writing everyday that it seems strange not to post something! So I've taken a few days off and now I'm back!

It's been an interesting few days. Good days, but for me, bewildering and confusing. With all the bad financial news coming from the TV and Internet, and with the presidential candidates 'fighting' for followers, I went into a little funk. I'm sort of surprised that the 'bad' news could bring me down and I've spent some time trying to figure out why it got the better of me. Too much self-analysis. I'm ready to think good thoughts, positive ideas, and happy times.

I'm really happy to be where we are, and I'm not missing the fly fishing too much, but still I went into in some sort of self-inflicted funk. I'm happy to be safe and comfy in our motorhome. We're healthy and secure. I'm usually the one to embrace change, welcome change, so it made me stop and think. "What's going on Mic?"

We're in Oregon for a few days before continuing south. I'll fill in the details and tell you about this place in the next post. It's a good place that I want to share with you in case you ever find yourself here. In between doing some fun activities for us, I expect to have spare time to get some blog stuff done.

I'd made a short list over the past couple weeks and now is a good time to share it and get it off my mind. Then we can get on with sharing photos and fun travel stories.
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Why are the fish always rising on the far bank, just out of my reach?

Why do mosquitoes buzz in my ear when I'm trying to sleep?
And am I the only one who has to get out of bed to find that buzzing mosquito? (Mom?)

Why does it rain after washing the car?

How can I happily walk straight into the 52 degree river, but the shower has to be hot before I can get in?

Why does the wind blow in the opposite direction of where I'm casting?

Why were the groceries on sale yesterday?

I always thought the starry sky was brightest in Arizona, but you haven't seen the stars until you've been up at 2 AM in the Middle Of Nowhere, Montana with the Big Dipper soooo close it seems you can reach up and touch a star.

Why are the fish eating something I don't have in my fly box?

And how do those fish know to hide under the grass and behind the overhanging tree?

Why don't we have a water-proof digital camera that will fit in my pocket? (note to self - Olympus or Pentax?)

Why does technology still amaze me with all the new gadgets and software advances?

Does the Honda CR-V at 30 MPG balance out the motorhome at 9 MPG?

Why are the only 2 choices for satellite TV local channels New York or Los Angeles? While in Montana the prime time shows start at either 6 PM or 10 PM, one too early and the other too late.

How did we get so lucky?

Pictures from home - staying connected

Thank goodness for technology that allows us to keep in touch with family and friends who are not with us while we're on the road in our motorhome. As we were leaving Arizona and the southern California area I wanted to spend just one more day with family, knowing that it would probably be months before we would hug them again. We were lucky to have some family visit us at the Thousand Trails Rancho Oso (Santa Barbara) RV park. This photo was taken of my sister, Erin, her husband Tim, and sons Josh and Ryan. Last week Josh had his 5th birthday and the next day Ryan turned 2. As Quincy of Little Einsteins says, "Un-be-lievable!" They are growing up so fast. Josh starts kindergarten this year. He's been able to read for a while now and he's so smart he won't have a problem with the schoolwork. Ryan will be with my mom, aka Grammy, while Josh goes to school. In addition, Grammy will be a Grammy again any day now. (I think that makes 10, if I don't get too complicated.) My sister-in-law Anna, married to Mark, is having a baby boy any day.

What would you do without email? We use free aol email primarily for communication with friends and we also have a free Google email account that we keep for business. Free email is a money saver and they are both quite reliable. This last week we received email from friends we used to work with. Many keep in touch on a fairly regular basis, while others surprise us every so often with a 'hello' from the past. It was nice to get email and pictures of our friends kids last week. Others have also sent pictures and it's a good way to stay connected with what's going on "back home". My sister sent new photos of their recent vacation trip and they all look so happy. I just have to share.

And thank goodness for cell phones! When we first started travelling back in the 1980's we did not have a cell phone. We had to find a pay phone (remember those?) and use dimes and quarters. For years I carried a cell phone for emergencies only, but now I use it to call friends from the river - when I'm not fishing. It's reassuring to be able to call and check on friends and family. We use Verizon and have had very good coverage and great customer service. When you call another Verizon customer it doesn't count against your alloted minutes. Nights and weekends are also free. More and more of our family has Verizon which sure helps.

We access the Internet with a Verizon 720 USB air card. And we use a CradlePoint 350 wireless router (from 3Gstore.com) so that both of us can use our laptops at the same time. Our Internet access does not use our cell phone like some people we've met. And our Internet access is almost as fast as DSL. There have only been 2 locations where we've had to hook up our Wilson antennae to get a stronger signal (Thousand Trails Whalers Rest and Thousand Trails Rancho Oso). We have unlimited useage and unlimited downloads. Rick still kids me about resisting the Internet when it first became popular many years ago. I said I didn't want to use it or learn about it, and now it is so much a part of everyday life.

Then there's the US Postal Service for keeping in contact. Every once in awhile we get a special handwritten letter or package from friends and family and they are a treat! I've tried to send some snail-mail to our family, especially our young nephews who are growing up with email communication instead of letters and postcards.

Send us a comment if you have questions about the technology we use to keep in touch with the world while we're on the road.

More Zoom with our Nikon P80

While in Washington a couple months ago, we purchased a new camera from Costco. I wanted one with a better zoom, more pixels, and more bells and whistles. We had a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 and it's a good point and shoot digital camera with 7.2 megapixels. We still have the Sony and take it with us most everywhere. It has a quick shutter recovery time, meaning it will take the next shot fairly quickly. However, there is a known issue with the Sony P200 with the photos eventually showing what looks like a smudge. There is internal dust that accumulates on the lense inside the camera. We could have a camera shop or Sony service it, but the cost for the service is more than we could buy a new Sony.

I love the Nikon P80 and I'm glad we didn't get one that is more difficult. I thought I wanted one with changeable lenses, but the one we were looking at did not have a 'live view' LCD. Having to always look through the small viewfinder with my eye to the camera was not what I wanted. We both like to use the larger LCD screen to center the subject. The P80 is easy to pick up and use on the Auto setting and it also has many manual settings you can play with.

I love the zoom and I sometimes forget how nice it is. I had posted some fish photos a few days ago that Rick took of me across the river. I wanted to show the comparison of the shot both ways, without the zoom and with the zoom. Can you see me in the first photo?

And this one is cropped to 4x6 with no modifications.

While on the Oregon coast I played with the zoom and did some comparisons. I've had fun taking photos of the birds as we travel and hope to share more of them on our blog.

View of Our World

In a motorhome efficient use of space is key. We have plenty of room, but we like everything to have it's own place so we don't have to move a bunch of stuff around to eat at the table or sit on the couch. We're fortunate with this motorhome to have lots of storage compartments and lots of CCC or Cargo Carry Capacity. We can carry more than 4600 pounds of "stuff"! I've read that 2 full-timers should count on taking 2000 to 3000 pounds of stuff in their RV and I think that's fairly accurate. Being able to carry 4600 pounds of food, clothing, fishing equipment, dishes, pots & pans, tools, crafts, and all that stuff we want with us is super! Don't think we have every cupboard full though. We actually have some empty cupboards and are happy that we are not overloaded and unsafe.

I wanted a space devoted to my laptop so I can keep it set up. I've seen some motorhome owners who make a table out of their steering wheel and put a lamp or pictures on it. We've put a portable lap desk on the steering wheel and the laptop has a home. Being able to keep my laptop out all the time we're parked is convenient. And I have a view that is unsurpassed! Our large windshield gives us a panoramic view of the world. It is ever changing and what we make it, whether we are travelling or parked. For the past 6 weeks this has been our view.

This is where I spend a lot of my motorhome time. I'm the primary driver so I'm very comfortable in the large captain's chair. I have a cup holder on my left side, an area to keep the papers I'm working with, a place for our cell phones, and I'm next to the radio and TV. I set a screen saver on the laptop to display our favorite photos and when I'm not using the laptop we have a slide show of our recent adventures. I watch the sunset every evening and feel the cool breeze blow in my window. A place for everything and this is my place.

Problem with PhotoBucket slideshows

It seems that PhotoBucket (where I host many of our photos) is having problems with their site, but it appears they are trying to resolve the problems. Yesterday I couldn't access my photos, but today it's only the slideshows. I can't view them when I go to PhotoBucket and I can't view them here on our blog. And I like to include lots of photos and slideshows! So please check back again later to see if they resolve the problems. Don't you just love computers?!?!

Any ideas for another photo hosting site? What do you use? It's easy to leave us a comment.

"Slow Cooker" Kind of Day

The weatherperson said it was supposed to rain today and it did. But not as much as we thought it would. It was a misty day, mostly dry, but no sunshine. Rick compared the weather here with where we will be fishing in 6 weeks, and it was about 15 degrees warmer there! I think he was trying to make a point about heading for Montana, but I'm not finished with the Oregon coast.

It rained enough so we were able to test the windshield wipers. No, we didn't drive, we just turned them on to test them. They work fine, but we don't plan to drive in the rain if we don't have to.

The cool (cold!) weather has prompted me to use the slow cooker to make piping-hot soups and chowders. I mentioned this to Rick's sister (in the SoCal area) and she said she was planning meals that are light and refreshing. Today I made clam chowder, couple days ago it was potato soup similar to my Mom's. And a french onion was real yummy. Rick enjoys cooking on the BBQ grill and I enjoy it when he does. But it's too cold today!

It's been a day for organizing photos on the laptop (I need to post some from our recent drive up the coast) and working a little on a crocheted blanket. Rick has been fiddling with computer stuff - GPS POIs, Streets & Trips, and final notes before our appointment with Guaranty RV, our motorhome dealer.

I'll finish off this post by letting you know the wind is picking up, the big puffy white clouds are ripping by, the electric heater is on, and the clam chowder is ready.

What Keeps Us Busy?

Someone asked, so here it is...

Most of the campgrounds we visit have well maintained walking trails, miniature golf, ping-pong, horseshoes, shuffleboard courts, tennis and pickle ball courts. There are family & adult centers with libraries, card/TV rooms, organized activities and get-togethers. There are activity directors who provide craft classes, scavenger hunts, wine and cheese tasting, live entertainment, bingo, and trips to local attractions. Most campground parks also have swimming pools and jacuzzis with time allotted to adults and families with children. And there is a check-in station (security), general store, shower/restroom facilities and laundry centers. Some have restaurants that serve all types of food throughout the day and evening. And a few have lakes or streams which give us the opportunity to wet a line.

I take a camera with us on walks and always see something interesting. Today we watched a couple people fly their remote control airplanes and this weekend there will be RC boats on the lake. We both enjoy a leisurely round of golf (putters only). Rick is really good at ping-pong and has been giving me pointers to improve my game. I'm getting better and can keep up with most of his trick shots now.

We're keeping up with our computer skills although there are soooo many other things to keep us busy. Being constantly mobile presents some challenges with internet and communication, but Rick has done a fabulous job keeping us "wired". Rick keeps up with finances and budget on-line, while I'm the primary communication facilitator. (Hmmmm, sounds a lot like our old jobs, doesn't it? I was joking with Rick the other day when our forwarded mail finally caught up with us and we had to have a meeting, create a project plan and assign each other tasks for handling the correspondence. Just kidding!) Rick keeps a couple databases for our Magellan CrossOver GPS and favorite fly tying patterns. I've been working on photos and creating a blog. And somehow the topic of computers usually comes up in conversation with new friends and we enjoy sharing what we know with them.