Snow Related Issues

First, I want to welcome our newest Followers!

Gregg

Angry Charlie

Libby

The Old Geezer

Jo Beth and Catherine

Thanks for joining the Roadrunner Chronicles!  (If they have a blog, I have linked it to their name.)

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Over the past week we have had really cold weather (last night it was down to 20 degrees) and some snow.  The cold weather affected our heater (among other things).  Our front a/c heater unit on top went out.  Heat pumps are not the way to go in cold weather.  So we are using a lot of propane for the heater and hot water.  

On Saturday we called around and decided that on Monday we were going to fill up with propane.  Uh--it was snowing pretty good on Monday.  We decided to pack up and go get the propane tank filled anyway.

This is one thing I have feared and avoided for 18 months:  Driving in the snow.  The whole idea freaks me out a bit.

We packed up and headed out.  It took us about 30 minutes to unhook everything and put everything away.

Yikes!
I found out the snow we were dealing with wasn't all that bad.  It was like driving in rain and I kept the speed down.  My issue isn't really the snow, it is my fear is ice of black ice.  The thought of skidding and sliding around in my one and only home does not appeal to me.

I think it is more about nerve...like learning to drive these big RVs for the first time.  The main thing about getting confidence is thinking about the right things.  ~ Like where I want to put the left wheel as I go down the road.  Or watching my mirrors and going slowly through tight places.  Not thinking about what could happen or oncoming traffic or who knows what else...

As I said, I took it fairly slow and we waited until about 1030 AM to get going, so it was warming up a bit.  It was probably about 35 or 36 degrees by that time.  (This is Virginia Beach?)

Since I called earlier, our guy was waiting for us and jumped right on it.  He made the hookup and filled us up in about 15 minutes.

Then it was back to the campground.  I wanted to avoid the noon time traffic and it worked out fine.

We got back to the campground, eased the Roadrunner back into our spot, hooked up the electrical and had lunch.

That was interesting!.... all these months and now we can say we have driven in snow.  Instead of dreading the thought, now I know we can do it if we have to.   (But I know this is not real snow, like what they are going through in Canada near Marg and Bill's, or in Buffalo, NY near Jon and Barb's.)    But that is fine with me -- I have no intention of ever needing to drive in the real snow, an inch or a light dusting is enough for me.

Later that day, we decided to see if we could do something about our a/c heat pump unit.  We found Meyer's RV Service which is a mobile service.  He came to our campsite yesterday.

 Tanner jumped on top of the Roadrunner and took the cover off our Coleman unit.  He found a burned up capacitor that needed replacing.  Aside from the 30 degree weather, it was a pretty easy job.

James asked about our Norcold refrigerator and we discovered we missed the recall on it in October.
He called the company, set us up and got registered, then replaced a component on the back side of the refrigerator.

They blew a fuse while working on it and after a couple of phone calls to Tiffin, we found out where it was located.  He replaced the automatic reset unit and we have that issue solved.  It took them about 2 1/2 hours to replace the capacitor in the heating unit, replace the recall item in the refrigerator (and fix the slow leak they found) and to replace the fuse.  James and his son Tanner at Meyer's Service do great work and charged me $183 which I thought was reasonable considering them came to me and it was hassle free.  I recommend them!

It has been an interesting time the last few days, but we have added to our RV full-time adventures with some cold weather experience.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  I hope you are warm were you are and enjoying the holiday season!

Monday Morning

Over the weekend, it doesn't seem like we did a whole lot.  The weather system from the South East has been making its way up the coast so it has been cloudy and a little cooler.

In fact it has gotten pretty cold here in Virginia Beach and has over taxed one of our air conditioning/heating units.  It quit working in the front of the coach.  The propane heater, the ceramic heater and the heater in the rear of the coach are all working fine though, so we are toasty and comfy.

But we may be checking out a local RV service center to figure out what to do about the front unit.

On Saturday I went to the beach for a few minutes but the clouds rolled in and I didn't stay very long.

It was a great day to stay at home and do a lot of reading.  In addition to working my way through the Kent Chronicles (currently reading The Seekers) by John Jakes, I read some friends' blogs:

Rod and Loyce are enjoying their new mattress in Mesa Arizona.  John and Bridget are dealing with the cold weather in Brandon MS.  Jim and Linda have their presents wrapped in Debary, FL.  Jim and Dee are in Wauchula, FL and getting ready to visit Lazy Days to take care of a warranty item on their refrigerator.  Sam and Donna are in Dardenne, MO and thinking about Pennsylvania.  Mike and Pat are rejoicing their place at Retama Village in Mission Valley, TX just sold!

We went to church at CrossCurrent again and enjoyed the teaching and fellowship.  It is a great bunch and we will miss them when we head out in a couple of weeks.  Afterwards, we went to eat at Azar's, a Greek Restaurant and enjoyed some soup and chicken wrap sandwiches.

Then after a quick stop at Sam's Club, we returned to the coach, filled up our water tank and buttoned it up for the night.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Hope you have a great, warm, week!

Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Hosemasters

Wednesday morning was my second visit to the United States Naval Academy (USNA) Alumni Association, Hampton Roads Chapter Networking breakfast meeting.  I was particularly interested in going because Guy Zanti and his wife Kathleen Murray (USNA alumni '81 and '83 classes) were speaking.

They are entrepreneurs who own the only franchise in North America of Hosemasters.  

And they have an RV.

The meeting was similar to last time with a number of folks meeting each other before the proceedings got underway. (After all it is a networking meeting...)

After introductions and announcements, Guy and Kathleen began.  I was interested to see how they conducted the presentation.  They began with, "We do not believe in death by PowerPoint" so will both be speaking.

And they were good.  Very good.  Engaging, interesting and educational.

They spent most of their time talking about their concept of wealth, finances and money and how Rich Dad, Poor Dad had changed everything for them.  They are avid readers and had a partial display of their business books.  They had all of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series and some others including E-Myth.

Their style was very good because they offered information to others about how they started investing and moving toward their financial goals.  They have followed the Rich Dad, Poor Dad philosophy for at least 7-8 years.  I don't remember when they both started reading and being committed to it.  

More than their specific businesses (which include the Hosemasters franchise and owning a 39 unit apartment complex and an anti-rust [RSDW Metal Guard] solution they sell to marinas), they spoke of how to create wealth and view money.

I liked their audience participation questions:  "How many of you have read Rich Dad, Poor Dad?"...."How many of you have not read Rich Dad, Poor Dad?".

They brought a copy of CashFlow 101 which is a boardgame that is a popular teaching tool.  They were recruited by a nearby college to take some students through it.

The 30 minutes went by way too quickly!  

Afterwards they hung around a few minutes and talked with the audience.

Their presentation made me think of Amway.  Or Dave Ramsey.  I know of people who got into Amway and made a go of it.  Other friends have gotten into the teaching and financial precepts of debt-free living with Dave Ramsey's materials.  I say -- good for you and I hope you do well.

It was an interesting and motivating morning with my Habitat friend Dennis who invited me to the breakfast meeting.  I am glad I went! 

Another reason we love this RV lifestyle:  we get to meet folks like Guy and Kathleen!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Hope it is warm where you are or that you have a place to stay warm!

Merry Christmas!

Grand Illumination at Williamsburg

One great thing about this time of year is the many Christmas events.  Over the years we have gone to see things we normally would not have seen.  Like attending functions at the Kennedy Center.  It was fun to dress up and go see a musical or Christmas program there.  Or see the Christmas tree at the capitol like I mentioned last week.

This year, we ventured up to Williamsburg for the Grand Illumination.  It was about a 90 minute drive from here and we went with a few of Kelly's friends.  Williamsburg is an interesting place.  You see all kinds of costumes

And yours truly...

It was a beautiful afternoon at Williamsburg and we walked around for a couple of hours before the fireworks (i.e. Grand Illumination) started.  If you have never been to Williamsburg it is really a neat and interesting place.

We stopped by a sheep pen and handlers came by to feed them.

And walked down the main road along some homes and farm houses...

There were lots of people and the Illumination is a very popular event...

It was also very cold and we stopped over near the shops for some hot chocolate and cider

After that we went over to one of the many outdoor stages and watched some groups sing Christmas carols and we saw a group dressed up in revolutionary era British uniforms as part of the fife and drum corps.

It was pretty cold after the sun went down but we toughed it out until 6:00 PM when the fireworks started.  They went on and on and on.  And apparently there were two or three places on the grounds that had fireworks going off simultaneously.  It was quite impressive.

 It was a chilly evening, but the fireworks were quite spectacular and well worth the wait and the cold.  We enjoyed our time there and left shortly after the display.  We hadn't really had anything to eat since lunch so we stopped at a Mexican restaurant on the way back to Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Thanks for stopping by today and joining us on our visit to the Grand Illumination!

Christmas Trees and Snow

We helped Kelly get a Christmas Tree for her house on Saturday.  We went to a Christmas Tree lot not far from our campground and picked out one that was about the right size.

Next we took it to her place and she put on the decorations.  Nikos helped.

It fits!
Outside, she put more decorations up.

With help from Nikos again and Aaron.

That night it began to snow lightly as we left to return to the campground.

Yikes!  that is real snow still left on the picnic table, the car and the gazebo roof!  Brrrrr

But not BRRRRR as in the weather up north in Canada or Buffalo NY or those places.  Which is fine with me.

Right now it is 26 degrees outside.  But the heater works and we have plenty of clothes.  I am also thankful for that.

We will be here another three weeks.  Then we are off to Georgia for a few nights, and then to Houston for Mark and Megan's wedding.  Then back to Moss Point, Mississippi for NOMADS work during the rest of January until the first week of February.  Then to San Antonio for a week, then on to Bracketville for a couple of weeks.  March and April and the first part of May, we are planning on being in Tucson.

That is it for the Roadrunner Chronicles today.  Thanks for joining us and hope you are warm where you are!

Freezing Precautions

Please join me in Welcoming our newest Followers:

Rick and Elaine

Pidge

Al Filo de la Navaja Taramundi

Jo Beth and Catherine

Thanks for being there!  (If they have a blog, you can click on their name to find it.)
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It has gotten a little more nippy here in Virginia Beach and we had to unhook our hoses a couple of nights ago.  We have never done that before!

As an extra precaution I put the light in the water compartment to give it a little more heat around the water pipes and the tank.  I don't mind learning about this stuff ~ I just don't want to get any experience in the snow and ice.  Cold or coolish weather if fine but....I don't want to get used to this.  We will be heading south after Christmas.

I had a malfunction with my Canon Powershot SD 1200 the other day.  The lens would not open.  I learned a few months ago that I need to get warranty plan anytime I buy a camera or phone.  So I did.  It really came in handy when I took the camera into Best Buy and they replaced it with a Powershot SD 1400.  I am a satisfied customer!

We did some grocery shopping the other day and I was surprised to see new flavors of Cheerios.

Anyone else think that is kind of strange?  Chocolate Cheerios?  Banana Nut Cheerios?  I don't know why but that kind of blew my mind.  Next we will be seeing chocolate bread and chocolate toothpaste and ...??

Pam was cleaning and noticed the stopper in her sink was kind of groddy so I took it out and cleaned it.  It took a while to get at and remove.  I am always hesitant to start messing with plumbing because the thought occurs to me that we could end up worse off after I 'fixed' something.

It worked out fine this time.  I broke a tiny rubber grommet I was able to get a replacement for at Home Depot and I got it all cleaned out and put back together (no leaks).  One thing that was helpful was the flashlight on a tripod that Kelly got me a couple years ago.  That thing is really handy!

Our Christmas celebration season has officially begun!  Pam had me get out the decorations and she worked on the tree we bought at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago.

That is it for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Thanks for joining us and we wish you a Happy Holiday season and a Merry Christmas!