Winter Workamp

Our work commitment at Windy Valley Llama Farm in Blue Ridge is winding down. We have about 6 weeks left here. We have been looking for winter workamp spots in the San Antonio area for the last couple of months.

We are happy to say we have secured a spot for winter in Texas and Spring in Colorado. So where are we going? Glad you asked. We will leave Blue Ridge on Monday October 1st and head for Hidden Valley RV Park. They are located off Exit 144 on I-35 in Southwest San Antonio. They are not a fancy place which is OK with us – we are not the fancy type. There will be plenty of work for us as well as plenty of time off. We will be there during the rodeo season in Feb 2013 – YAY!

We will be at Hidden Valley from October 15th until the end of March, 2013. By then we will be ready to head north. We have a confirmed commitment from April 15th through the end of July 2013 at a private Alpaca farm in Wellington, Colorado. We will be about 17 miles north of Fort Collins, CO and 30 miles south of Cheyenne, WY.

We have a couple of options after that. One is to take on a work commitment with Amazon either in Kansas or Kentucky or move back into Texas for a work commitment at Cherokee Acres Ranch in Willis, TX. We were discussing this option for this year but just could not make it happen.

We have several other places that we contacted but just could not make the dates work for us. These locations are in our pending list for a future winter gig.

We love what we do! We have met several new life long friends. And we have a place in Blue Ridge where we can always come back for a short or long stay. God has been good to us.

Now on to the RV Stuff.

The other day I needed to dump tanks. Our black tank electronic valve was acting strange on us. The tank sensors in an RV are at best real lousy. I think I got the tank empty but during the back flush, it appeared I filled the tank and could not get the valve to open again. So for three days now, we have shifted some of our bathroom activities to the basement of the farm house. That is OK but it is a little awkward when you have to use the bathroom at 3AM.

Today, I began the dreaded task of checking out the problem. Rick from Rick’s RV in Murphy, NC (15 miles away) was the recommend “go to” person. He said he would be out this afternoon around 5:30. He called about 4:30 to confirm directions and time. I crawled under the RV to see what it would take to remove the belly panel that covers the bottom of RV.
    This panel is held in place by 4 screws across the front and 4 across the back. The sides of the panel rest on the main frame of the trailer. With the panel removed and insulation moved away, Rick could easily determine which of the valves was connected to the black tank. He verified the black tank was in fact empty and not full as the sensors indicated. The valve has a manual override which allows a person to open or close the valve manually by using an allen wrench. In this photo, Rick is working on get the valve to move.
   
We made sure the valve was open and left it like that. I know it is not a good idea to leave a black tank open but in this case, it will be OK since I will be back flushing the tank daily. I can order a replacement valve for $80 from DrainMaster on line and have it here in a couple of days. Then Rick will come back out to help me install it. When I took the photo of the valve, I was please to see Made in U.S.A stamped on it. Forrest River/Cedar Creek made a good choice with this valve. Other than bad tires from China, this is the first part failure I’ve encountered on the RV since we purchased it in May 2011.
   
Pam and Jerry take off again for a few weeks with their toy hauler. They are taking their toys out for some play time. In the meanwhile, the farm is being entrusted to us and another helper once again.

Life is good and we are blessed beyond our wildest dreams. Thanks for stopping by.

Doggie Door

One of the projects on our TO DO list was to cut a doggie door between Barn 1 pasture and Barn 2 pasture. There are two Great American Pyrenees who guard the llamas on the farm. They run from pasture to pasture chasing off any potential predator. They should be able to easily move between all pastures even if pasture gates are closed. If the dogs are in Barn 2, and need to get to the top of Barn 1 or the house pasture, they have to go to the bottom of Barn 2 pasture, find the access gate at the bottom of Barn 2 or house pasture, then come back up the hill. Sofie can make the trip pretty quickly. Bear is a lot slower because of joint issues. Having a doggie door at the top of Barn 1 pasture makes the trip a piece of cake. Since I fix the busted gate post, it only made since to get the doggie door done also. The wire fence to the loft of the gate is the spot for the goggle door.
  
It did not take Sofie or Bear long to figure out where the new door was.
   

RV Fixes

The owner has a toy hauler RV. They are taking off for a few weeks to ride their motorcycles. Jerry asked me to look a few things that needed fixing.

Fix #1 Ice Maker

The RV has an ice maker that sprung a leak the last time they had the RV out. It appears the hose fitting was cross threaded on the solenoid valve which is where the leak was. I was able to get it threaded correctly but still had no water flow. Apparently the water shutoff was turned off. To make matters worse, the T-handle on that shutoff valve was busted off.

I could not find a suitable replacement valve at HomeDepot so plan “B” was to add a second shutoff valve in line with the 1/4″ poly flow tubing. To get the busted shutoff valve opened, I had to pull the ice maker out of the cabinet. That required removing a stair step that was in the way.

There are two types of in line shutoff valves. One is brass and one is plastic. The brass valve is a sleeve inserts that are inserted into the 1/4″ poly flow tubing. This won’t work with this water line because for some crazy reason the RV manufacturer decided it was important to use a “special” thick wall 1/4″ poly flow tube, not the standard 1/4″ poly flow found in 99% of home use today.

       

That means the plastic shutoff valve is the only other option left. This valve is also unique. The 1/4″ poly flow tube is inserted into the end of the valve. Nothing to tighten, nothing to twist. Just insert the tube. The valve is designed such that it provides a seal and grips the tubing. Sure enough, that works. Turned water on to RV – no leaks! That is a good sign. Put ice maker back in its resting spot, replace the stair step. Still no leaks and ice maker is cranking out ice.

Fix #2 Light Bulb

There is a reason why light bulbs are called light bulbs. The one on top produces light and is called a light bulb. The one on the bottom does not and is called a dark bulb. How a light bulb morphs into a dark bulb is beyond my simple mind. With a new light bulb in place under the range hood vent, Pam/Jerry will be able to see well enough to cook. They also have a spare just in case the light bulb morphs again.

Fix #3 Satellite Dish

Jerry purchased a Winegard Carryout portable dish so they could stay connected while traveling with their RV. My task was to figure out where to connect the dish on the outside, and where to connect their Direct TV receiver inside. In our RV, these connectors are labeled. On his RV, nothing is labeled. I will be adding labels so they will know where things go. While up in the old TV cabinet, I also tied back loose wires. That’s it for today.

Tomorrow’s blog post could end up a bit messy. Let’s hope not. Ya’ll come back!

Unaccompanied Bag

Gage traveled to Houston as an unaccompanied minor. This means he had to have an escort all the way through the airport to the gate. We were given escort passes so we could escort him through the maze at the Atlanta airport. Since Gage was flying in the middle of the week and early in the afternoon, airport traffic (people) was light. We got through security at the terminal building, then on the tram to concourse “C” and arrived with plenty of time to spare. We were all hungry so it was time for a relaxing meal. Gage gets a bit cranky when he is tired or hungry. I am sure he was both as well as a little anxious. I fussed at him for having an attitude. His response was typical – Papa, I wasn’t doing anything. Of course not. Who can argue with an 8 y.o.
   
His plan arrived at the gate and unloaded, then the pre-boarding announcement came. Gage was handed off to the gate attendant and we waited for the plane to leave the gate. We noticed another small child and his mom who were waiting to board. Cool, Gage wold have a travel buddy. After this child boarded, Carol and the lady began to chat. This helped pass the time as we waited for the plan to leave the gate. Finally everyone was loaded and the plane pulled off.

Carol and I headed back to the terminal building, out to the garage, paid for our parking then drove into Atlanta to make a stop at Sam Flax South. Carol is learning water color so she wanted to stop for a few special supplies that are hard to find in a small town like Blue Ridge. As we got out of the truck, she ask me where her purse was. Now as any guy would say, I said, I have no idea, where did you put it. We looked all over the truck and discovered it was nowhere to be found. Can you sense the anxiety setting in?

OK, we go into the store and think through the process of what we need to do first. I called the airport and spoke to a wonderfully helpful person who said she would see what could be done to check the gate area for the purse. While I was on hold, I kept thinking, how are we going to get back to Gate C-20 in concourse C. I am the only person with a photo ID. Carol’s DL is in her purse which, we hope, is at the gate. The lady from the air port came back on line a couple of times to let me know she is still working on a solution for us.

After about 15 minutes, Carol’s phone rang. A lady named Glorianna called to let Carol know she had Carol’s purse. (BIG SIGH OF RELIEF!) However, there is a slight problem. Glorianna was about to board a plane headed for Las Vegas. She was boarding at gate C-20 and noticed the purse sitting on the floor where Carol had been sitting. Glorianna tried to give the purse to the folks from the airline but they said – sorry, can’t help you. Then Glorianna tried giving the purse to security – sorry can’t help you. What a dilemma! A lost purse with no place to go.

Meanwhile, I am still on hold with the airport lady who is trying to figure how to get me back into the airport to search for the purse. Before this nice lady came back on the line, Carol looked at me and said, Glorianna is taking the purse with her to Las Vegas and will ship it to Blue Ridge. OK we now have a plan the envolves trusting a perfect stranger – and we are at peace about this.

We finish shopping and head back to Blue Ridge. As we headed back to Blue Ridge, Glorianna called Carol again to let her know how she would arrange to get the purse back to Carol. There is nothing else we can do at this point. Do we call our bank and cancel the cards or do we trust Gloria? A Bible passage kept coming to me.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says: 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

So we did nothing – but wait. Carol called Gloria on Thursday to confirm the purse was being sent back. Las Vegas was 3 hours ahead of us and Glorianna had not made it to the Post Office yet. She had an orthodontist appointment Thursday AM so she cold not answer Carol’s call. Anxiety is back. Glorianna did call from the Post Office to let Carol know it would cost about $90 to ship the purse overnight. Priority Mail would be cheaper and is still trackable. Glorianna did what she said she was going to do, Carol got her purse back. And everything was in it just as it was when it was left behind. We are thankful and relieved that we did not need to go through the process of reissuing bank card, driver license, and our Verizon MiFi. Life is back to normal. The missing purse is now back at home.
   

Fence Post

The fence post for the gate between Barn 1 pasture and Barn 2 pasture broke at ground level. Now if these pastures where for the girls, that may not have been problem. We have two boys in Barn 1 pasture and all the girls in Barn 2 posture. It should be apparent that it would not be OK to mix the two boys with all the girls. If I were replacing a fence, I would just move the new post over a few inches. In our situation, the new fence post needs to go in the ground where the old fence post is. The mystery of this task is how deep and how much cement is around that post. In other words, what lies beneath that dirt?
   
Time to start digging around the post remains.
  
Dig deeper.
  
No, I said dig deeper yet. Looks like I have a coupe of supervisors checking out my work. Say hello to Dee and baby Phoenix.
   
I wonder if that is deep enough.
   
If I wrap a chain around the cement, I can use a jack to pull the post remnant out of the ground. I am beginning to feel like a dentist.
   
Grunt! Grunt! Dang, the chain slipped. Or if I were a dentist, I would say, “OOPS!” Time for more digging.
   
Extra support under the jack and that sucker should come out of there.
   
Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about.
   
The post is out!
   
The best part about pulling a post remnant is you don’t have to dig a new hole for the new post.
   
New post is in the ground, cement is poured. Post is plumb both ways. The gate is a wee bit high but that is OK.
   
There is the old post and the framing material to cut a doggie door next to the new post.
  
Next project is cut open the doggie door. Then I have work to do on the owners RV. That story will be tomorrow. It’s been a busy day.

Thanks for stopping by.

Strange title! I know it. Not sure what else would have worked for a blog title.

 My latest shipment from Camping World arrived today. It contained another FanTastic Vent fan for our bathroom and our first LED light replacement. We have enjoyed our first FanTastic Vent fan in the living room so much that we decided to get a second.

We have 3 double bulb pancake fixtures in the RV. The one in the bedroom is used quite a bit. These fixtures take incandescent bulbs (RG921 – 12V/18W T5 base). That also translates to 1.5A per bulb. We do not boondocks nor do we plan to. However, if we lose shore power we want the assurance that we can have lights when it is dark and not be too concerned about draining our batteries. Reducing power consumption in an RV is a good thing.

For the light, we selected the Dayight White LED over the Warm White LED because the Daylight White was about $20 cheaper. I am not a fan of the yellowish tint coming off most incandescent bulbs. I prefer a cooler white over a warmer white. Do the LED fixtures make a difference?

The incandescent bulbs can get pretty hot. It would not be unusual for the temperature of an incandescent bulb to hit 200 degrees F. A comparable LED fixture’s bulb  (with 36 LEDs) would produce less than 100 degrees of heat. Notice this photo of the old fixture. See the brown area on the white holder near the bulb? The discoloration is caused by heat. Heat is one of the three components needed to sustain fire.
   
I will admit it is very expensive to change out all incandescent bulbs/fixtures in the RV. Until a vendor will offer discounts for quantity purchasing (buy 2, get one free). I’ll replace the fixtures as I can.

My friend Susan and Bob (aka Travel Bug) mentioned a 3-2-1 cake in one of her blog entry the other day. She got the tip from another blogger. Susan and Bob are currently gate guarding in Texas. Tonight it was my turn to make this simple desert. The bag has the mix (one box angel food cake mix + one box yellow cake mix)
 
Place 3 tablespoons of mix in microwave safe dish (or cup). Add 2 tablespoons water. I then stired with a fork. Microwave on high for 1 minute. The cup on the right is done the one on the left is about to go into microwave. (NOTE TO SELF: use smaller cup)
   
Here is the final product I iced the cakes with cream cheese icing.
    
Comfort food for RVers. And it did not generate any heat in the RV. I like that.

We are continuing our search for a place to spend the winter in Texas. We have talked with several folks and are hoping we can make a final decision soon. As soon as we know where we are going, I’ll fill you in. In the meanwhile, we continue to enjoy the llama farm.

Thanks for stooping by.

We have been back from vacation for a week now and have not updated the blog. Of course you know that if you regularly read the blog.

We took Sunday off but resumed our work schedule on Monday (6/18). It just did not make sense to take two days off after being gone for a week. So what did we do this past week? Well, silly, we worked.

 As Carol and I were driving back on Saturday 6/16, we talked about the hay situation. We had less than 10 bales of hay before we took of on our Tennessee vacation. Pam/Jerry had ordered hay but it was not going to be delivered until the end of June. That means we would be off loading a large truck filled with hay. Pam and Jerry would be on vacation when the hay came in. On Monday we found a large stack of hay (120 bales) in barn 1. Yea! The hay came early.

Tuesday our other workamper Julie came in. She is a solo workamper who has been on wheels for 8 years. She has a 24-foot Coachman Concord motor home. She worked here at Windy Valley Llamas a couple of years ago. Since Pam/Jerry were going on vacation, they asked Julie if she could come to the farm to help us out while they are gone. We are certainly happy to have her around her. Tuesday evening, Jerry (owner – not me) cooked up some of his special blackened salmon for a get acquainted dinner.

One new thing I got to do this week was climb aboard a Kobuto B7510 tractor. This is the farm’s lawnmower. It has a 20 hp diesel engine, 4 wheel drive, power steering, 60″ mid-mounted mower deck and liquid filled tires. This baby has power and extremely low center of gravity making it very stable on the hills at the farm. Also comes equipped with seat belt and roll bar for safety. I managed to get all the grass cut and did not turn the tractor over.

Cody, has been doing pretty well being off lead since we’ve been back. He finally realized that Tom the cat is a friend and not something to chase.

 

This weekend, a local feed store was hosting a Dock Dog competition. I’ve seen this event on TV but never live. It was pretty amazing to see these dogs sit/stay then wait for a signal from their handler. The dog would then race down the dock and leap into the air to catch their target a finally land in a pool of water.

Saturday, our vacation came to an end. As we turned off Curtis Switch Road to Ada Road, the dogs got excited and knew they were almost home. We agreed and felt it was good to get home. Now for our kids, we are a long way from home. For us, home is where we park it – and that means Windy Valley Llama Farm in Blue Ridge, Gerogia.

Our day started with an outdoor breakfast. It was really cool to cook breakfast in the RV, then take the plates outside to enjoy the sounds of nature while we munched on breakfast. We said good by to our neighbors and told them a bit about our lifestyle.

Saturday was the day of a trout fishing tournament on the Raven Fork River but the traffic was light as we pulled out of Yogi in the Smokies. I am not sure where the fisher people where. Once we got closer to US-74, our cell phones let us know we had cell service. Our messages and missed call notifications started coming in. We turned south on US-74 and headed home.

Once again, we enjoyed the drive adjacent to the Nanthala River. There where lots of folks enjoying white water rafting down the river.
   
We pulled over to take the photos and watch. At one point a rafter was dumped into the cold water when his raft hit a protruding rock. All ended well as his raft mates were able to pull him back into the raft. We will probably take a rafting adventure before we leave the area. There are several options for us that do not include Class III or Class IV rapids. We may just tube the Toccoa River and visit the Occoee River to see the folks on the Class III and IV rapids.

We pulled out of the gorge and headed to Murphy, NC where we stopped for a break and lunch. From there, we had less then 30 minutes before we got back home. It took us about an hour to get set up. As Dorothy said, “It’s good to be home.”
   
Trip Statistics  - We drove 657 miles in 8 days and averaged 13.86 mpg. That was pretty good considering about 500 miles of the 657 was towing and half of that was mountain towing.

• Fuel cost: $178.47 (avg of $3.68/gal)
• Camping fees: $221.32 for 7 nights.
    Walden Creek, Pigeon Forge, TN – 2 nights – $39.00
    Lakeview RV in Bluff City, TN – 3 nights – $72.92
    Yogi in the Smokies, Cherokee, NC – 2 nights – $109.40
• Meals: $198.35

On Camping fees, Walden Creek and Lakeview parks gave us 50% discount with Passport America. Yogi gave us 10% discount. We paid a premium at Yogi for a river site.

Today was R & R day.  I completed a few minor things around the RV and gave the truck a serious bath. I also grilled pork chops in a foil pack. Carol spent most of the day working on her quilt project.
  
Then she got busy and made a Peach Cobbler of us to enjoy for desert. YUM!
   
We had a nice conversation with our daughter and grandson from Corpus Christi via Face Time (Skype for Mac). We are looking at plans to fly them out here some time in July.

Naping in her nesting spot, Patches also says it is good to be home.
  
Tomorrow we go back to work. Thanks for stopping by.