February 1-15, 2024 RV Water Heater and Other Miscellaneous

Feb 1 - Thursday-Today we ran errands then went to Linda’s for hair appointment. After that it was a stop at Homeland and a trip through the car wash. Steve worked on the gutters and I held stuff for him. I made Chicken Pot Pie for supper.

Feb 2- Friday-I again was the assistant to Steve while he worked on the gutters. It seemed those expensive things we bought  have pulled away from the house in a spot and are not doing the proper job. Later I paid bills and renewed our RV Roadside Assistance and a few other things as needed. 

Feb 3-Sat-We discovered that the RV Water Heater is leaking. Steve started taking it out of the RV. I was the mechanic assistant again. I help with tools and moral support. It was a difficult process. We order a new Water heater from Camping World. Our was 20 years old and had a horrible crack!

See the big crack!

Feb 4-Sunday-Today we did a few errands, laundry, Grocery store and post office. I got on the phone  to cancel my Total Care Contract with Best Buy. They said it should show up as a refund to the credit card in 7-10 days. (Guess what? It didn’t-so I had to call them again!) Supper tonight was Chicken Enchiladas. 

Feb 5-Monday-Today we went to Stillwater. Our first stop was Lowe’s, then Belk and Walmart. We got back home and unloaded all our stuff. We relaxed and ate leftover chicken enchiladas for supper.

Feb 6-Tuesday-Today We had hair appointments at 10 AM. I got a trip and hair color. Steve got a haircut. Then we picked up our mail. After lunch I held the light for Steve to check the heater in the. Then we did some computer work. We went out to supper at La Macarena with Linda and Hazel. 

Feb 7-Wednesday-Today we putzed around. After doing our routine things Steve also fixed the seat belts  and cleared the spot for the water heater. We also to a nice walk. 

Feb 8-Thursday-We called Camping World and the RV Water Heater had arrived. So we left for OKC to pick it up. We also made a stop at Lowes. Then we drove toYukon and met with Kristi & John at Chili’s for  supper. We also ate ice cream at Dairy Queen. That was fun!

Steve in the mirror! Check out that 70 degree temperature!

Me!

Feb 9- Friday-Today Steve started working on installing the water heater in the RV. That took up most of his day. We made a few trips to the hardware store. The thing is, the new water heater is a different brand. Why? Because the company that made the water heater we had, was out of business and we had to go with Atwood brand. The new one replaced this model. But of course the connections and holes, etc. don’t exactly match. 

Feb 10-Saturday-More work on the water heater. It was chilly today - so we stayed inside until about noon. Logan came up about 5:30 or 6:00 PM to visit with us. He left about 11:30. We had a nice visit. 

Logan - He had National Guard Duty today so he wore his uniform.

Feb 11-Sunday-Today was the Super Bowl. So we took that in most of the day. Kansas City Chiefs won! Yea! It was a good game. 

Feb 12-Monday-Today Steve started his new meds for MS. He had trouble with flushing and tingling for 15-20 minutes after he took it. It was an expected side effect, but rather disconcerting for him. We did laundry and bill paying. I called Linda to wish her a Happy Birthday. 

Feb 13-Tuesday-I didn’t record much today - so it was pretty routine. I did go to Thorn’s to get Linda a birthday present. Later, we joined Linda and Hazel at Stillwater to eat the celebration supper at Texas Roadhouse.

Linda with 1 of the presents I got for her.

Feb 14-Wednesday-Happy Valentine’s Day! We did routine morning things and had lunch. About 12:15 we left for OKC. Today Steve meets with the back doctor (pain management) to see what to do for his back -either ablation or steroid shots. We were home a little after 3:00 PM. He and I went to La Macarena for fajitas to celebrate Valentine’s Day! 

Valentine's Day flowers and cards!

Feb 15 - Thursday-We made our run to Walmart this morning. We got back home by 12:30. We put away our stuff and had lunch. The afternoon  was spent relaxing. I made Meatloaf, cheesy potatoes and salad for supper. It was good!

July 6 - July 14, 2021 We have visitors!

Tuesday July 6

We completed all our routine chores today. We pretty much killed time most of the day until it was time to go to the airport and pick up Kristi and Logan. We took showers and got ready. I sent a picture of the barrier setup to our boss (Tony) and he said it was perfect.  We left about 9:15 for the airport because they were on a late flight. They had a safe uneventful flight. It was pretty late when we got home. I will say that the airport at Kalispell is very easy to use. We were glad to see then and happy they arrived safe. 

Sunset on our way to the airport

Wednesday, July 7

We got up about 8:30 and completed our routine chores. We all went to town and ate breakfast at the Grateful Bread. Steve & I always get quiche there. It is great! Logan had pancakes and Kristi had steak & eggs. We did a short tour of Wayfarer Lake State Park. We returned to the RV and did some relaxing. Later it was back to town  to have pizza at Rosa’s. Then we drove the pickup through the carwash and spotted deer on our way back to the RV. 

Deer

Sailboat on Flathead Lake

Flathead Lake with smoke in the distance

Logan on the rocks

Big rock at Flathead Lake

Thursday, July 8

Today we hung out at the RV until after lunch. Then we took a drive to the forest. Logan wanted to show his mom the Fire Lookout. After a little walk and checking out the lookout we drove the forest road to the top of the mountain. What a drive! On the way back down Steve spotted a mountain lion. Of course we didn’t get a picture - they are too fast. On our way home we stopped at Ferndale and got ice cream. Yum! It was a pleasant day and we sat outside and visited until 5:30.  Our boss called and said he would be gone for the next 3 days. We made a nice campfire and had burgers, beans and chips for supper. Later we also made S’mores. Our older dog Poopsie was having some trouble - she was trembling and panting at the same time.  It worried me. 

Wildflowers

Fire Lookout

Wildflowers

Big Rock in the forest

Sunset

Friday, July 9

We were still worried about Poopsie. So after we did the chores I started calling vets. I called 11 vets before I had any luck in getting someone who would agree to see her. We had to go to town and do chores there also- so we stopped at the Mexican place to eat and got the call from a vet north of Kalispell (Countrytime) who said they would see her at 3:45. We finished lunch and drove back to the RV and picked up Poopsie and headed to Kalispell. Steve used his race car driving skills to get us there and we were even early. The diagnosis was trouble with her shoulder, so she got an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxer to take for a few weeks. The medicine helped her right away. Then we returned home and hung out the rest of the evening. 

Deer

Poopsie feeling bad

Saturday, July 10

Steve was up early with Poopsie - Then he went back to bed later. After  walking and chores we went to town and checked out the bakery, Lake Baked. It was good, but the huckleberry roll wasn’t as good at Polebridge Mercantile’s Huckleberry Bear Claw. We checked out some of the shops in downtown Bigfork the went back to the RV. After lunch we left for Glacier National Park. We stopped at the Huckleberry Patch so the kids could buy some souvenirs. We arrived at Glacier right at 5:02 (when you don’t need a ticket to enter). I drove us up Going to The Sun Road to Logan Pass. We walked around a bit at the top then Kristi drove us back down. We stopped and took several pictures. It was lovely even though there is smoke in the air. We tried hard to find a place to eat and ended up at Burger King in Columbia Falls. It was another late evening and we were pooped when we got home about 9:30. 

Older RV we saw in town when we were downtown

Beautiful flowers in downtown Bigfork

Selected pictures from Glacier

Steve & Logan

Logan and Buster

Sunset

Sunday, July 11

Today we took it easy and hung out at the RV. For supper we fixed fajitas. d

Monday, July 12

When we got up, Krisit was gone -she drove to town to get some coffee. Steve seldom drinks coffee anymore - so we only have microwave packets for coffee. These packets of coffee aren't the greatest for a real coffee drinker. Then we went back to town to do chores, and make stops at the post office and grocery store. We hung out at the RV for lunch and took it easy. By the time supper rolled around we retuned to town for pizza at Rosa's. Then Logan drove us to Horseshoe Lake and Swan River. We saw lots of deer - it was a nice evening. 

Buck

Tuesday, July 13

Today we did all the normal things and sat around and visited. We all had showers and left at 4:30 PM to drive to Lakeside, MT. We took a boat tour on Flathead Lake. The tour boat was Far West Tours. It was an enjoyable tour and the captain entertained us with stories and told us where famous people lived. Of course we couldn't get supper before the tour - the restaurant was so slow. We did get water. She told us their wit time was 30 minutes for food. But that was actually the wait time to turn in your order. So we cancelled our food order and headed for the tour. Again Logan drove us there and back. He is doing good with his driving. We got home about 9:30 or 10:00 and had a few snacks for supper. 

Scenes from Flathead lake

Logan, Me, Steve, Kristi

Wednesday, July 14

We did all the routine things this morning and then went to Echo Lake Cafe about 10:30 for Brunch. We also went on in to town so Krisit could pick up some Huckleberry Taffy to take home for Austyn. We left at 3:30 for the airport and arrived at 4:15. Kristi forgot her billfold but luckily she had her passport so their flight home was not killed. They went through security at 4:55 and the plane was set to take off at 5:50 PM. We got back to the RV at 5:45. I monitored their flight from the phone and they arrived safely and arrived early. I found her billfold on our couch in the RV. Thank goodness!

Butterfly from our walk

Another deer

Off they go into the wild blue yonder

Sunset

March, 2021 It's Beginning to be Springlike!

 Well March didn't start out too exciting. Steve has been working on a short in the RV and that kept him busy. I changed our Roadside Assistance to Escapees this year. We are pushing Lowes every chance we get to get the kitchen remodel going. Things are happening slowly on that front. Of course we are doing routine things, like getting our groceries and keeping up with our banking and bill paying. Steve installed new spark plugs in the RV.  Logan came up and spent some time with us and helped Steve with the RV work. Steve was able to get his first COVID vaccine and I got my second one on the 6th of March.

Full Moon - Mar 1

We all got hairdos and cuts at Linda's on the 9th of March. And since it was Tuesday we had supper at La Macarena here in Perry to celebrate Hazel's birthday. The guys are still working on the RV short and putting things back together. We have enjoyed watching the  Big 12 tournament and we were happy to see so many of the teams in our conference make it to the NCAA tournament. My team, OK State got 2nd in the Big 12 tournament. 

Hazel's birthday picture!

Part of the items we ordered for the kitchen remodel arrived on March 12th. The range was wrong - I guess  I emailed the salesperson the wrong number. Anyway we sent it back. We re-ordered the correct range (stainless steel) and went to Lowes to pay the difference. We also picked out the hardware we needed. On Sunday, the 14th, Steve, Logan and I took the dogs for a nice walk at CCC Lake. They have made a nice little trail there and we really enjoyed it. 

Steve, Logan, Buster & Poopsie on the CCC Trail

I guess since spring is coming we are doing some extra things. We ordered a new shade cover for our  patio gazebo and finally decided it was time to put it on while Logan was here to help us. We also changed the sheets on the bed (what a job)! We have an adjustable bed and it is quite a process to get the sheets changed. Also we met up with Kristi on the 15th so Logan to get back home and attend soccer practice.  

Bison living just south of Perry (Mar 15th)

We went to Texas Roadhouse with the girls on the 16th and also bought a new office chair for Steve. It is quite nice. It's a Lazy Boy and pretty snazzy. Steve also bought some new overalls for the summer. On Friday the 19th - Steve had a bad toothache - Of course the dentist couldn't see him til the following Monday. Also on Friday, OK State beat Liberty University in their first game of the big tournament. Steve didn't do too much over the week-end except nurse his toothache. On Saturday, I drove over to Enid and had lunch with my sister Pam at Napoli's. It was good but a little pricey for lunch. Sunday we watched OK State get beat by Oregon State in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. 

On the 23rd (Tuesday) we had our usual supper with Linda and Hazel, then went to OKC for Steve's MRI on his back. Kristi is dealing with her car problem. I got online and purchased my lifetime Senior Citizen Hunting and Fishing License ($25). I doubt I'll do any hunting, but I think Steve and I need to go fishing. Kristi purchase a new to her SUV on the 25th.  Another highlight of this week was on Friday - we loaded up some old junk and hauled it off to the dump. It's a spring thing, getting rid of junk! We also had to pick up branches in the front yard and Steve had to do a little work on the RV Hood. We went to OKC on Saturday, the 27th to watch Logan play soccer. It was kind of funny because as we drove up to the soccer field, I saw the Woodward Boomers Activity Bus. Logan's team was playing the team from my hometown! Hmmm.. who to root for?  I rooted for   Logan's team, but the lost by 1 point. Darn! Kristi and her boyfriend, John joined us for lunch at Chili's. Later I went to REI and ordered some shoes. On Palm Sunday (28th), we got dressed up and went to Bartlesville. My niece Paige had invited us over for a celebratory lunch. We celebrated my great nephew's (Landon) birthday and Easter. On our return home I turned a corner too short and my right rear wheel fell into a pothole. It made the rocker panel come off. Steve said he can fix it!

Full Moon Mar 26

Soccer Game Mar 27

I got the oil changed on the car (30th). We also got an update on our kitchen remodel - which is still slow going. For supper this week - we went to Freddy Paul's in Stillwater. It has been around for years, but I had never eaten there. It was OK, but pricey - not sure I would return. That about sums up the highlights for March.

Ranchers are burning off grass pastures in Osage County, OK 

Just a few pics on our way to Bartlesville Mar 28

Landon, Rachel, Me, Steve, Parker

Paige, Pam, Me

Parker, JC, Pam, Rachel, Landon

Top: Paige, Parker, David

Bottom: Landon, Rachel

Me, Steve