It Isn't all Fun and Games

 Yes, we did make it to Congress, AZ for the winter. This stay will not be all fun and games, it is designed for accomplishing repairs and upgrades. 

God still makes it a good place to stop over for the season.

SUNRISE and SUNSET

One of our goals was to replace our temporary zero gravity lawn chairs with a new couch or chairs. We did some lookin' around here in Surprise for furniture, and finally stopped the search at a local company called Leather Creations. The advantage of this local manufacturer is that the product is made here in Arizona, plus the customer has an input on what they are buying. We sat down with a salesperson and designed our new loveseat with a console... granted it cost the price of a small car... but it has a lifetime warranty. We got a bit anxious waiting for the new couch because it took six weeks to make it... but, here it is.

Carol and I have been thinking about trying a winter in South Dakota (no we haven't lost our marbles). I decided to experiment on what it would take, besides skirting, to keep us comfortable. I popped over to the local Home Depot (40 miles down the road), and purchased insulation for the under sides of the slides.

The insulation is working to some extent, but I think I need to add a layer of plastic wrap next time. The insulation will not go to waste when we get ready to leave here, I am going to add it to the under belly insulation that already exists. With this project completed, it was time to look for another one... oh, the front door window.

Some of you may remember that our front door window was frosted glass, that we kept covered because of the glare from the sun. Well, I decided to order a replacement window with a pull down blind. 

The first photo is a morning sunrise through our new front door window, and the second photo is embellishments we added. The shade

is black, and works nicely. This was a simple project, but it looks great. I gave the other window to the RV repair guy next to us; his plan is to use it on another RV he and some friends are rebuilding.

The next inside project is in the bedroom... our mattress. We have been surviving on the original mattress, which grew a hump in the middle because we both sleep on  the edge of the bed. We ordered the new mattress, and thank goodness it didn't take as long as the couch. Before we received the mattress I needed to prep our bed frame.

The original bed frame was webbing similar to what was/is used in cheap lawn chairs, only it is thick cloth like in older quality furniture. Anyway, with the upgrade completed, we just waited for the arrival of our new mattress. The mattress has independent coils, and memory

foam. The big difference, and I mean big, is that it is taller than the original mattress. The new mattress is 14 inches tall, which means we literally have to climb into bed. This was a slight issue for Carol, which was easily remedied...

a step stool made from scrap materials around the rig.

As you may know, Carol and I have changed our eating habits to a more carnivore lifestyle, and have been looking into some different ways to meet certain cravings. 

What you are looking at is the beginning and end of chicken chips. A chicken breast is either beat out, or ground down in a food processor (that's me), seasonings added during the processor phase, then rolled out paper thin, and baked at a low temperature for about an hour. While thin was good, Carol and I think that thicker may be more to our taste. 

It wasn't all work, we did play some, Carol with beads, me in the desert.

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

BLM BEHIND RANCH

Fun's over, back to work.

You ever live somewhere long enough that you realize changes need to be made... we have, and it started in the bathroom area.

The sink faucet just wasn't doing it for us, so we said, "let's change it out". Sometimes things take a bit more planning than actual doing. In the case of the faucet, it required drilling a hole for the single fixture mount, and purchasing adapters to mate up the faucet lines and the water lines. How many times can one run to the hardware store... it was more than one for me. After all said and done, they is what we ended up with, a beautiful faucet we can get our hands under.

Next installment will prepare us for Christmas, and a new awning.