I’m hoping chores and repairs don’t put off early November travel. Hmmm, not happy about that though I’m still comfortable and enjoying my home views. Just putting travel on hold doesn’t mean forever but I don’t travel on holidays.
Happy to say I have a Post Office Box and am officially a resident of Skull Valley, Arizona. I liked the sound of that from the get-go. It’s been a few years since I felt settled enough to call a place home. Super bonus is having a handyman on site.
So it was worth getting up early enough to see sunrise and greet said handy-person around 8am.
Long overdue RV maintenance, the list is long. He replaced the cracked skylight over the shower and all four dry and aged roof vent covers. Once apart I should have replaced the entire roof vent as other plastic is old. Might just put Maxi vents over them next time. Also scrubbed all three slide roofs and re-taped seams. Ah the joys of having a charged screwgun (and operator) to put the closet-rod support screws into solid wood instead of the manufacturer missing that block of wood, and attaching a wall panel that the staples into nothing had popped out. There’s always something, I always have a list. Got into some interesting conversation including the idea of being happy all the time versus being comfortable. I don’t think constant happy is possible, and would be exhausting, and maybe not even recognizable without some unhappy. I am mostly good with comfortable, not like getting in a rut I hope. A smile often brings happy juice to my brain throughout the day.
And making November travel plans makes me happy. I figured to shop in Prescott on my way to Dewey where I’d stay the weekend visiting Vicki. Then meet with Joann and give her camper a shake-down on some public land outside of Sedona we scoped out last week. It’s comfortable to travel with someone on a maiden voyage. Plus we always have fun wherever we go and that makes me happy.
In the meantime, I hear from a long-time Facebook friend I hadn’t met yet who was in my neighborhood on the way home to southern Utah after three weeks on the road. Please remember, my neighborhood is in the middle of nowhere. I invited them to boondock in my “yard” at the ranch and met them at the gate. Of course we greeted like the old friends we are, sharing stories old and new. They showed off their van conversion with a popup to standing height. I opened the door to the truckcamper and was greeted with, the smell of propane. Not good. The fridge was cold but I turned off the propane and then plugged in to maintain the fridge temperature. I had planned to leave in the morning and happily begin a little November travel.
I did go out in the morning, with no propane on, and after a few-mile drive to the landfill/dump went shopping in Prescott, which I don’t include in November travel fun. I seem to go to town more often now that it’s nearer and I don’t necessarily see that as a good thing. However, I dropped off a bag of clothes at Goodwill then after a quick wander inside realized I can no longer afford to shop there with $25 pants and $13 purses. Yes, prices are going up everywhere, but really the thrift store should do better unless they suddenly started paying their employees more. Enjoyed a reasonably priced breakfast and because she was nearby, Joann joined me. She also brought out a donation bag of new clothes from her granddaughter that I ended up happily taking, and everything fit both size and style. From there I spent way too much time in a Wally’s returning some of last week’s purchases I was unhappy with. Lots of empty shelves and no grocery bags makes me wonder if their products are sitting offshore. Bought an external DVD/CD player (made in Malaysia) to USB to my laptop so I can watch the few movies I have. $100 worth of diesel at almost $4/gal and finished with a few groceries. Home felt exceedingly comfortable after a 6 1/2 hour day. I really don’t like to shop. Besides I had been hoping to continue down the road for my first November travel to a new place.
The next day I checked all the propane connections at hoses and tanks. Everything seemed tight yet I could smell propane when the tank was open. I put dish-soap on the connections and didn’t see any bubbles. Of course there are more connections I can’t easily get to. So I turned off the propane again and will call a pro after the weekend. I am not currently a happy camper. But I am safely comfortable until the problem is fixed. And with that fixed I can begin November travel camping south of Sedona this week with temps 70/40s. Then catch Vicki on the way home to the calendars delivered.
In the meantime, I’m not going out for walks on the ranch right now as it’s hunting season and I can hear gunshots not too far away. I don’t own orange, it’s not my color (other than sunsets). I’d rather not be mistaken for a deer. Four does trotted up the hill northward and I prayed for their safety.
What do you think of the idea of being happy and/or comfortable?
Herp nerd friend says Horned Lizard, most other friends agree it’s a tiny dragon (1” skull found in my yard)