Tail on the Whale

The Whale now has the connections to connect the tail.  We picked up the last part of the Blue Ox trailer hitch today.  We also picked up paperwork that allowed us to license and title the Honda (Tail).  We packed much into today, but it's good to see all of the loose ends begin to come together.

We had thought we would be able to head out Tuesday (tomorrow), but alas, we are not quite ready.  We have a 3pm appointment for the trailer light kit to be installed.  Then it's dinner out with good friends.  Tuesday/Wednesday has rain/snow in the forcast, so in the morning we will see if we can extend our time here at Cherry Creek State Park for 2 more days.

If you didn't see it on Facebook, here is a picture of were the neighbors RV keeps their large pig.  His pen is in the white trailer. It seems rude to take pictures of other people's stuff, but seeing a pig in a campground seems strange to me.

Spouting over and out.

Now this is Retirement

It was a great weekend!

Craig's last day of work was Friday.  We woke up Monday morning with a wonderful feeling of not having to go to work.  It may take awhile to get used to that.

Sat. we went to the boys ballgame and they had a great game.  If you're on Facebook, friend our daughter, Tana, to see highlights from the games that she records on her iPad.

Sat. evening after the game, we came back to the campsite for hot dogs and s'mores and the 4 kids spent the night with us.

They are a bit dark, but that's what it was outside.

The kids even got in a little TV watching while they were jockeying for sleeping positions.  Kyra ended up on the high bed, (since she is the only girl), Carter and Collin on the fold out couch/bed and Cooper was low man out with sleeping on the floor.  I ate too much sugar and was wide awake until pretty late.  I had to wake Craig up to help me figure out how to shut the ceiling vent and to get my contact case that was in by Cooper.  Cooper stirred a little with the commotion and blurted out, "Is everything OK in there".  He didn't remember saying that.

 Carter and Collin snug as bugs in rugs

Kyra waking up

We had early morning visitors.

Kyra and I made breakfast for this strange looking group.  Eggs and cinnamon rolls were on the menu.  Nothing was left over!

Sunday we went to a baseball game and then Tana and Barry put on a very nice Retirement/Good-bye Party for Craig and I. Thanks for working so hard to put that together and thanks to those that were able to attend!!  I forgot to take any pictures.  My bad.

This is Monday.  No work, but a few things on our plate to accomplish, but since we are retired we will only do what we feel like doing.  Oh yeah, there's a few necessary things, too.  We pick up the title and need to license the "Tail" today.  We are also meeting with the previous Whale owner to pick up the Blue Ox tow bar.

We may also do a little remodeling on the living area.  More on that if we actually do it.

The Whale get it's Tail

It wasn't an easy day, but it was a good one!  We started out by installing the base plate on the the Honda CR-V (Tail) so we will be able to pull it behind the Whale. Craig only busted one knuckle, so he considered it a good process.  It did take longer than we thought.  Don't you think projects always do?

It still needs a wiring harness, but it should be getting close to being ready to tow.

We came home and packed up to make it to Collin and Cooper's Baseball game.  They won!

We came back to camp at Cherry Creek and cook hot dogs and S'mores and had the rest of that wonderful cake that Karen M. bought for us.  Yummmie.

We ate and we sang and had a very nice night.

We turned on the TV after everyone cleaned up and put on jammies.

We invited the 4 grand kids to spend the night.  It's tight quarters.  Kyra is sleeping up by the TV; Carter and Collin are on the fold out couch and Cooper is on the bathroom floor.  We are packed in like sardines in a can.  That reminds me of some of the old cartoons we used to watch as kids with fish crawling into those cans you opened with a special key.

Craig and I are in bed.  He is sound asleep and I'm just enjoying the "after glow" of the day.

Did I mention that I saw this dog in the camp next to us today?  It's tail was going around in circles and then it's head was bent down in such a way that I thought the poor thing was crippled.  Then, it turned sideways and I realized it was a PIG.  Yep.  Breakfast bacon right next door for breakfast.

Night

A Day with The Whale Beached

This is how the day ended.

It was a full and lovely day.  We are still working on the leaking pipe under the sink issue.  We are tightening the fitting a little at a time in order not to strip it.

Craig went in for his last day of work .  I dropped him off so I would have the car and headed down to Tana's to pick up some homework that granddaughter, Kyra, forgot and took it to school.  Tana was already at meeting.  Once I passed off that paperwork, I was on my way to the store to find yet more STUFF to stuff into the Whale.  It can consume large amounts.  We are planning a campfire for Sat night with hot dogs, chips and smore's.  Sunday will be a party for Craig and since my freezer is full here, I stopped back at Tana's to stuff her freezer.

Craig's work had a very nice good-bye party for him and he was given a very nice rod and reel for those future fishing days.

I rearranged things in our room and then finally had that nice long shower I didn't get yesterday due to the shower backup.  It was wonderful, with no troubles at all!  I didn't even turn off the water between wet.soap.rinse cycles.

It was time to head over for the closing on our home.  Lots of paperwork, but all went smoothly.  Here's the picture of the Retired Guy and his wifey:

We came back to the Whale and Craig took his first retirement nap before dinner!!

He really dislikes when I take pictures of him sleeping, but who can resists such a cutie?

He has this wonderful ability to fall asleep whenever and wherever he is.  This could come in very handy in our future days.

Our Realtor is Karen Mistrot.  She did such a wonderful job with the sale of our home and then she topped it off with this specialty bundt cake.

Now, this is the way to start retirement!!  Thanks Karen!! Frosting is Craig's favorite thing in the world and it was on the best tasting cake I have ever had!! Blessings on you for topping the day off with such a treat!!

Need I say more?  I may have another piece before the day is over.... IF Craig will let me.

We had a nice dinner and then a walk down to the Cherry Creek Reservoir just in time to catch that sunset.

Beach with water level pretty low.

Denver Tech Center west of the lake.

The roadway over the dam is called Vaughn Road, but everyone calls it the Dam Road.  Tana was driving her boys to baseball last year and got to the turn for this road and found it had been closed and she said out loud, "oh no, the Dam Road is Closed".  Her kids immediately chastised her for her language.

Two Homeless Retired People... wasn't it just a couple of years ago that we got married?  Was 1970 that long ago?

Tomorrow we need to do some work on the Whale's Tail.  The hitch receiver needs to be attached.  Tana's, Barry, is going to loan us his garage to work in and hopefully help with any problems that arise.

Spouting off...............

The Whale Took a "Leak" today

It was a much warmer day here in Colorado, but on our first trip outside early this morning we found this:

Piddle on the ground!  Who knew that the Whale was not house broken???

This is the puddle it made in one of the compartments underneath.  The good news, was that everything under there was in a plastic tote!  

Here it is, the last night before retirement for Craig and the leak he thought was fixed earlier was still dripping a bit.  He had to dive under the sink again.  It looks like this under there:

                                                                           

This is the water heater (to the left of the vinegar bottle).

You have to lift up the dryer-like hose to see the connector into the water heater tank.  It's only 6 gallons. The fitting on the end of that long white PVC pipe is what was leaking. 

The doors to the under sink are not very wide or tall and Craig had to work hard just to get under there.  We are hopeful that the second adjustment will end the slow drip.

Craig came out without any seaweed on him, but we may have to find another way into this pipe fitting.

I drove across Denver today to pick up a part to tow the Tail to the Whale.  Chris was taking us out for a good-bye dinner tonight and I was really looking forward to my first hot shower in our own Motor Home.  Craig stayed home to work and he had showered without a problem.... not my experience.  I noticed in the first few seconds of turning on the water that the water was not going down as it should.  I moved as fast as a person can in a small space with a hand held shower, but the water was rising and I knew if I wanted to take that nice long shower that I had been looking forward to, that I would wash out onto the floor with the rest of the water.  I started whistling for Craig.  I have a really loud whistle, but he was outside and I guess the belly of the Whale is more sound proof.  Perhaps that's why the Lord didn't hear Jonah's first cries to Him.

Craig did come to the rescue and he, too could not get the water to drain.  By now, it was time to leave for our dinner date, so we left the standing water and headed out the door.  We had a wonderful Chinese dinner and then came home hoping to find the water down the drain.   Well...........

Long story short.  We hooked up the black tank drain hose and opened the valves and what we thought was just one day's worth of water went down the outside drain and so did the standing water in the shower.  We thought to ourselves... wow, what a small tank that must be.  Then, Craig remembered that we had flushed out all of the anti-freeze the day before and ALL of that water was in the gray and black tanks.  RV and learn.  That's the curve we are on.  We should be able to dry out by tomorrow.  Craig has a retirement party at work and then we have a 3pm closing.  BIG DAY!!

Night all!

Lasts and Firsts

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement!!!  I haven't had a lot of time for computing, but I hope to have LOTS of time to catch up in the near future.

It was a day of Lasts and Firsts (hence the title).

It was the last time I would clean the house we had built on Cathay St. We finished moving everything out.  We don't close until Friday, but we have put everything we can into storage and finished cleaning in the house.

Here's what it looks like empty:  we just painted and moved in Aug. 1st, so it seemed a bit strange to go back to seeing it look like it did then.

 Last time to clean or arrange the guest room closet.

A rather dark and distorted view of the front room.  We sold some furniture to the new owners.    Guest Bath upper level.  We took our last shower in a full sized bathroom.

 Kitchen is all clean and a bit hard to leave.  We have owned this home since 1997, but haven't lived in it that whole time.  It was rented out for 6 years.





Leaving a nice washer/ dryer and going back to laundromats will be strange.

Master Bedroom and bath (above).  I actually had my own closet and bathroom.

Craig worked his last day in this office.

And then there are all of the "firsts"

I drove The Whale for the first time today.  It was actually easier than I thought it would be.  I did run over one curb in the Safeway parking lot.  32 feet is more than I have ever driven.  Craig is the pro at this size vehicle, but I wanted to get this trial behind me before we head too far down the road.

It was a first time for flushing out the winterizer in the water system.  Craig did his research and it all went well.

It was the first time that we drove the RV fully loaded.  We made some sharp turns and hard stops and only a few things moved any great distance.  The Bose Radio was one, but it seemed to survive the 8' it went through the air.  It didn't even lose time.

We got all set up and we didn't even have an argument.  I was thrilled with how easy it was the leveling and setup went!!  Thanks be to God!!

Once we got set up, Craig had to work in his new office.  He has two more days to go!

Craig has been such a hard worker all of his life.  Thank you Lord for your provision through Craig!

So, we made the leap, took the plunge, put our best foot forward and put our trust in the Lord to get us through all of this.

It was a first time for cooking in my little kitchen, first time using our toilet, first time checking in to an RV camp site and first time working out of The Whale.

We are waiting on parts to put the Tail on the Whale.  Craig got a call that the receiver for the Blue Ox Hitch was back ordered and may be late getting here.  Craig said that once he finishes work on Friday, he really doesn't care where we are or when we go.  We'll see how long that attitude will last.

Done spouting off for the night..... did I tell you that we have water in the Whale now and I don't have to go into the house when I get the urge?  Did I tell you that Craig is doing the dishes in our new kitchen while I lounge here on the couch writing this?  Now, we need to go out of the park and pick up a few things and check our house for mail.

In The Belly of THE WHALE for the past three days.

We are moved into the RV.  It's been parked at the curb of our sold home for 3 days.  Last Monday we moved our Stuff into a storage unit and it was snowing.  It warmed up and Craig and I have been "stuffing and fluffing" things into our new home.

I would love to have a few pictures, but it's been snowing off and on today and we have just been so buried under with hauling stuff out that I just haven't stopped for anything..... we did go to two ball games.  We are going to miss those!

Today I got down to "things that need to go into the RV" and things that are NEVER going to fit in the RV.  We have a new understanding of the word, "Downsizing" since we are moving from 3200 sq ft to 256' (if you count the engine, cab and walls).  I am surprised of what you can fit in, but disappointed in some of the things that are going to have to go to the storage unit.  I'm sure there are all sorts of "made for RV" dishes and goodies to help save room and weight, but I just wanted to take along a small part of "home".

We had been sleeping on our air mattress (on the floor of the bedroom) getting used to it and making sure that we would be comfortable.  This morning we walked it out to the RV and discovered that it was 5" too long.  BUMMER!!!  Regroup.  Trip to Walmart.  We found a nice "topper" that we were able to put on top of the camper mattress that was there and tonight, we put it to the test.  If we can't sleep, we won't know if it's the bed, the wind and snow or just being in a new place.  When I'm this tired, I don't usually have a problem with sleep.  But, I'm also not used to sleeping in the street.  

Today, we did take a break and put a few things into storage and also licensed the RV.  Taxes.  Then, Craig's brother, Jim, and his wife Lynne took us out for a good-bye and happy retirement dinner.  That was really nice and it's always great to spend some time with them.

Tomorrow is supposed to be our first day down at the Cherry Creek State Park.  We will wait to see how much snow we get.  We won't go down until later in the day and hope that it thaws out before then.

Craig is still working (four days to go), so while he is doing that tomorrow, I will do the final cleaning of the upstairs of the house.  It won't be too tough because a good vacuuming and and bathroom cleaning is all that's needed.

Time to try out the new bed.

Nuff spouting for tonight.

Sleep well, friends.

The Whale Has a Tail

Last night a lovely couple from Colorado Springs drove up to our place to purchase our Honda Pilot.  The Pilot can be towed behind a Motor Home, but only at 30 miles an hour.  So, this is sold:

We really liked this Honda and so we looked for a Honda CR-V.  It's a step down in size and weight and cost and can be towed at 65 miles an hour.  This will be towed behind the Jayco Motor Home with a hitch called a "Blue Ox".  I love the Internet for learning about these things and there's an absolutely lovely and helpful group of people at www.rv-dreams.com. 

2002 Honda CR-V

Add caption

So, we pick up the "Whale" on Sat. morning and hope to attach the bracket on the "Tail" so it will tow behind.  Hopefully, we can continue to learn and retain and put this together by the 1st part of May.  Once we have all of the final paperwork from the dealer, we will be able to license and plate and be yet another step closer to starting out on our travels.

Are you supposed to have a sign off or ending to these posts?  Hmmm... thinking .........

     That's the end of my SPOUTING OFF for today.