Riding a bicycle is not the only thing you never forget how to do!

We're in Moab, Utah and as usual, we're having a blast. Recently we decided to go on a horseback ride. The riding trail skirts the Arches National Park and 7-Mile Canyon.

I'm getting ready to get on top of Elliott.

Bob is getting to know his horse Sam.

Our little wagonmaster was Audry. She was a jolly young lady and put our fears and reservations at ease immediately. I remember thinking, as we were walking up to the horses... Gee, I don't remember them being that big!

Fortunately, these horses were gelded males and were 17-20 years old. So they were very tame and easy-going.

When I was a kid we had an Arabian horse named Saru. He was MEAN. He'd try to bite you while you were on top and he was forever trying to throw his riders off. The older he got the more successful he became in this feat. We finally had to sell him because he was so high spirited.

Hence my trepidation at my decision to ride a horse again. But these horses were entirely different from Saru.

And you know you've gotten older when you need to use a stool to get in the saddle. That sure is a long way up! So once we were perched safely in our saddles, we were off on our nose-to-tail, 2-hour trailride. As our horses trod over the slick rock valley, it was a little unnerving to hear the sound of horse-hooves stepping on hollow rock. You see, many of the rock formations used to be full of salt. That's when these rocks were actually part of a seabed. Now these rocks are not even close to any sea and are empty of the salt. So when the horses walk across them they sound hollow. I kept praying we would not find a weak one and fall down to China... think I watch too much TV!

One thing I particularly enjoyed was the familiarity of rocking in the saddle. It was oddly comforting that something I had not done for more years than I care to admit was so familiar that I felt that I had done it just last week. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed riding horses. (Tame ones that is...)

My poor, dear husband, Bob, was a real trooper. He has a stenosis in his back so this was a new adventure in PAIN for him. Plus, his horse had a voracious appetite so Bob was always having to pull his head up. It's amazing what these creatures can find to eat in the desert.

Did you know trash can eventually be known as an "artifact?" It's true. Along the trail Audry pointed out burned cans half buried in the ground. These were leftovers from the old cattle drives. I can't imagine how those guys did what they did in that rugged countryside. We were warned that it is against the law to pick these artifacts up. Note to self--look up that law. Hehehe!

At the end of two hours on the trail, Bob and I had a real fear... how were we going to move our legs and get down off these creatures? I just knew my legs would never be straight again and I could not feel several of my toes.

I bit the bullet, so to speak, and threw one leg in the air, brought it down and thankfully found the ground. To my surprise, I could actually still walk. Poor Bob on the other hand, with his stenosis, could hardly tumble off even with the stool to aid him. Thank you Bob for joining me and humoring my adventurous nature... even when it causes you pain.


Audry up front on Pickles, followed by Me & Elliott

Just like the old saying, "It's like riding a bike, you never forget how." This applies to riding horses as well. When we were finished, we gave Audry a big tip and told her how great she had been to keep us safe and entertained. Her response, "I don't get to say this very often, but I really had fun with you two today. And that's rare!"

Nuff said! Thank you Audry.

Till next time,

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Who Knew Clean Carpets Could Make You Sick?

I'm sure you all know what a rough year Texas has had weather-wise. I just heard that Wichita Falls, Texas had the record as the worst weather city this year. I can believe it!

We were there in May working on the guest guides for Coyote Ranch Resort and Burkburnett/Wichita Falls KOA. As early as May it was in the 100s. It was miserable. Of course the fact that Bob had pneumonia while we were there (courtesy of being with his sick 97-year-old mother in the nursing home just before we departed Teague and the extreme allergy season) and I had a back spasm that put me on bed rest for 2 weeks had nothing to do with it.

Poor Bob, he had to go out and make the sales calls because I was on pain meds and in bed sleeping for almost 2 weeks. I'll give him credit, he did well for an accountant! :-)  (He'll get me for that one!)

Part of Bob's treatment for his pneumonia was to go out and get a nebulizer and use an inhaled medication to sooth his airways. Between the pneumonia and his allergies he came down with a terrible, lingering cough.

Over the next few months his cough finally got much better. Until...

...we had the carpets cleaned. I'll explain...

After we left Wichita Falls, we spent a good amount of time in Houston getting some things fixed on the rig. With the extreme heat, our air-conditioners were tripping breakers. While they were trouble-shooting the A/C issues, they were tracking in a lot of grease & grime into our carpets.

Oh yes, we also had one of our inverters turn to toast and took out the microwave/convection oven with it. And of course, the new mic/conv oven did not fit into the space correctly so we also had sawdust everywhere, including embedded into the carpet, as they worked to make it all fit and look good.

After all was said & done, the dealership graciously agreed to pay for the carpet cleaning. Once we returned to Teague, I found Stanley Steemer. I've seen their commercials and they looked competent plus they were about our only choice in this rural area.

Two young men came out right away and cleaned not only the carpets, but all of the throw rugs too. Way cool! Then they said for a few $$ they could put down a deodorizer since we have two little doggies and scotchgard to help keep it cleaner. I said, "Why not!" Sounded good to me... Silly me!

It looked great when they were done. Now all we had to do was relax for a week before heading out to Moab, Utah and points west.

Then, Bob started coughing. We wrote it off to the severe allergy season going on with the drought in Texas. We figured that once we got out of Texas he'd start to clear up. By the time we left a week later, he was starting to use his breathing treatments again and sucking down cough drops.

We took our time getting to Moab and still he continued to get worse. He planned his breathing treatments so that he could drive most of the day without coughing. (We only go about 250-300 miles a day.) Then he had to start sleeping on the couch so I could get some sleep since he was having coughing fits at night.

Three weeks after we had the carpets cleaned we couldn't even have a conversation together. He was continuously having coughing fits. I thought we were going to have to go to the ER!

Then I started thinking, okay, we're out of Texas and he's getting worse. What has changed?

The only thing that changed was we cleaned the carpets.

So once we got all set up in Moab we tried an experiment. We opened up the windows. His cough got better. We went into town... his cough got better. When we closed the rig up and turned on the A/C, he went into coughing fits again.

I got a phone book and called a local carpet cleaner. It is a family owned business, Arrow Carpet Cleaning, and the two sons came out to survey the situation. It seems that the chemical used for the deodorizer causes many people problems and the scotchgard turns into airborne dust particles shortly after you begin walking on it.

Who knew?!?!?

And, we found out, many carpet cleaners use steam which is not a very good thing to do and they frequently don't get all the gunk & water out of the carpet... I mean really out of the carpet. So all of this gets into the air and we breath it in.

These guys suggested a cold water rinse and they had a machine with a 5hp motor so it would suck all the water & gunk out that was left behind. And yes, they would be happy to do all the throw rugs for one flat rate.

It took them over two hours! Each of them had to take turns going outside for fresh air with the fumes they were stirring up. When they finished, we looked at the container of goo they sucked out. There was a 4-inch head of foam sitting on top of pure black, thick goo. It was disgusting (that's our 5-year-old granddaughter Katelyn's favorite word).

When they finished, the carpets looked and felt like brand new.

What about Bob's cough? It started going away within days and by two weeks it was a thing of the past.

I'm reminded of something I've heard over the years. They say the air inside your home can be much more polluted than the air outside. Well, here was proof!

So now we will keep it simple. Cold water rinses when we need the carpets freshened up. NO MORE CHEMICALS.

You want to know what scares us the most? If I'd have taken Bob to the doctor, they could have run all kinds of tests and they would never have discovered what the problem was. I'm sure they could have tried to get him on a half-dozen medications too.

Thank goodness I tumbled to the "clean carpets" making him sick. Oh yes, my eyes are not burning anymore and the doggies are not sneezing their little noses off either.

And Bob no longer needs breathing treatments. All is well!

Till next time...

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Don't Believe Everything You Read In The Books, Websites, & Brochures...

I'm upset!

Bob & I have stayed at this particular RV park for several years on our way to Moab, Utah. The Amarillo Ranch RV Park is conveniently located just off I-40 so it's easy on & easy off. This time we decided to take it more leisurely on our way to Moab. So we're spending two night at this park and two nights in Albuquerque.

The reason we chose to stay here for two nights is (1) it's a Camp Club USA park and we can stay for 1/2 price for the first night. Sweet!

The second reason was to spend a good deal of time in the "indoor heated pool." Since Bob's allergies are giving him fits with the dry Texas summer and considering it's still triple digit heat in Texas, the indoor pool sounded good. I don't like to get too much sun with my fair skin.

After we arrived late yesterday afternoon. We still are not able to run all three air conditioners in the RV because of a wiring issue that our last tech did not get fixed... arghhhhh! So we were hot and soooo looking forward to a long, fun swim and some water aerobics.

So we put our suits on, grabbed our noodles and towels and off to the pool we went. As soon as we opened the door to the building, the stench of stale chlorine assaulted our nostrils. They had the windows and doors open and it was still enough to knock us over.

Trying to be hopeful, we looked at the pool and we could hardly see the bottom it was so murky. Bob decided to test the temperature. Well, they must have figured that an indoor pool in this hot weather did not need to be heated because it was COLD! Not cool, but COLD!!! We were so disappointed. It sounded so nice in the brochure and on their website.

On our way back to the rig our neighbor in the next campsite looked at us and said, "That was a quick swim." So we told him all about it. He was thinking of going over to swim but changed his mind after we described the pool. As we talked to this fellow more, come to find out he was driving the tour bus for Bob Wieland. You can learn all about him here http://www.dreamride3.com/

The man we met drives a tripped out Prevost Coach pulling a 25' trailer with all of Bob's bicycles and parts. And he said Bob actually sleeps in the trailer and not the Prevost... go figure that one out!

Bob is a double amputee and is in the middle of his current trip across the country and was meeting with some Amarillo officials last night. We wish him good luck on his current trip and in this heat, please be careful!

As we got to our rig, another neighbor was experiencing a problem. As I looked out the window I could tell just what the problem was... a cone stopping up his waste tank.I'll explain...

If you are going to go RVing you should do some reading and go to forums to learn about what problems can occur and how to avoid them.

You see, many people think that these "homes on wheels" are just like a land based home. Well, they are and they aren't. One big mistake people make (including this person) is to hook up to the utilities (water, sewer, and electric) and viola, open the valves on the waste tanks and you're ready to kick back and relax.

Not so fast buckaroo!

You see, RV toilets are not the same a household toilets. First of all they drain into what's called a holding tank. This tank should always be left closed until it is near full and then you can pull the lever and dump into the sewer line. Adding a good bacteria/enzyme additive is a great idea as it will help break down the solids and paper that sit in the tank waiting to be dumped. And the biggest thing to remember is to always use plenty of water at all times when flushing.

When Bob worked at an RV dealer we took a used unit on vacation one time. Bob and my Dad spend three days trying to get rid of the "cone" problem in that unit. The bad part was it was not even our cone material... yuck!

So what is this cone?

Sometimes when RVers hook up to the utilities, they pull the waste tank valve, assuming they can leave it open and just let everything drain with every flush of the toilet. Well, that is not exactly how it works.

Since the waste goes into a holding tank, it hits a flat surface on the way out. So when the valve is left open, the liquids drain and solids are left on the flat surface. Now keep doing that and you start getting a build up of solids and sludge. When you go out on the road and drive on these hot roads you bake this material and it turns into a very hard substance, like concrete. As you keep doing this, solids keep building into a sort of cone and before you know it you can no longer flush anything into the tank because it is full. And in our neighbors case, he could not empty his tank.

Well, he was at that point. After going to the office to see who he could call, three men came out and spent hours helping him get some of the crap (pun not intended) out so he could empty his tank. I saw the technician describing how this cone effect builds. I did not have to hear the words I could see by his hand gestures.

So if you are going RVing, get some knowledge. Go visit some forums. Get a book explaining the basics. Many problems like this one can be easily avoided. I can imagine that this poor guy had to pay a portion of his gas budget on these three men helping him out.

In the morning we head out to Albuquerque for a couple of days. We're going to get the rig washed at the Blue Beacon truck wash nearby first then we're on the road again.

We'll be staying at a Coast to Coast park in Albuquerque. We've been members of C to C since 1992 and we enjoy staying at member parks for about $15/night. These days that's a real bargain.

Till next time...

Happy Trails,

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Looking Forward To A Wonderful & Fun Trip Out West

What a year 2011 has been.

First, you can scroll down to see we bought a different rig last fall. The Travel Supreme Select. While we knew it had some issues we'd need to address due to lack of proper care, the repairs were a bit more extensive than we had anticipated.

It's all good however. We now have a "history" with our new casa on wheels. And yes, we would do it all over again. The luxuries this coach affords us has made our full-timing experience so much more enjoyable.

I've been remiss in posting to this blog because of several factors, the biggest is as we were working our parks (producing guest services guides for RV parks) this year, we found ourselves in a Cummins, Spartan, or RV dealer repair facility in almost every city we worked in.

We discovered there are some very good places out there to take these big rigs to and they do like full-timers. We also discovered that not all (like Cummins, Freightliner, etc.) "big-truck" repair facilities like RVers though. And it's not that they don't like RVers, it's just that they find it hard to work on peoples homes and not track in the grease & grime from their shop floors. And of course, RVers don't want that mess on their floors.

So here we are, on October 25th we will celebrate our first anniversary in our beautiful Travel Supreme Select and we are very happy with it. While we do have a list of things we want to eventually upgrade since it is a 2004, the Silver Bullet (as we call her) still shines bright wherever we take her. People think she is much newer.

Now we are heading to Moab, Utah to work in our three parks out there and to PLAY! Last night we went to Cabela's and enjoyed the Texas Tax Free Weekend. We bought hiking boots, nice wool hiking socks, new tennies, and for me a new pair of top-siders. It was fun getting outfitted for some fun for a change.

After spending six weeks in Moab, we will mosey on over to Bryce Canyon, Utah for more breathtaking hiking & sightseeing. I'll be posting pictures & updates often... I promise. I've set up my iPhone so I can post from wherever I am whenever I want. After Bryce, we'll spend some time in Las Vegas, to visit family, friends, and to be tourists.

Next stop will be Palm Springs, California to visit friends who are working several parks in that area. Then on to Phoenix where we'll see my cousin Spencer Wallace & his family. Recently I discovered, thanks to Facebook, where my dear childhood friend Angie Darzes lives... in Phoenix as well. We will arrange to see her if possible while we are there.

We just love this lifestyle! Traveling today is so easy these days (excluding the fuel prices that is). I look back on the last 26 years of my parents and their RV traveling, now we have computers & smart phones. Try to find a pay phone these days!

One big thing I love is we can keep in touch with the grandkids via video chat on Skype. We can email and text and keep in touch with friends & family quickly & easily. How cool is that! I wish we could have enjoyed all of this technology when my parents were traveling.

Speaking of gadgets, I have over 200 of my music CDs on my iPod and several audio books for Bob. I also have a Nook which has tons of my reading materials and books on it. I love to read and Bob loves to drive... a match made in heaven :-)

Friday we arrived at our old hometown of Denton, Texas. Bob visited with his former co-workers and everyone enjoyed catching up. Yesterday Glenn & Cindy Brazzel, friends from the USCG-Aux came over to visit. They are fellow RVers as well.

Tuesday morning we will head out for Moab and points west. With all the work we've done on the coach this year, we are looking forward to a fun and uneventful trip. Plus, we are so ready to get out of this Texas heat. It's truly been a brutal summer. Record setting high temps and sever drought over 98% of the state. As much as I love Texas, I'm ready to get out for a spell.

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

The KISS

One of Bob's favorite sayings is "Keep It Super Simple" (aka: Keep It Simple Stupid--but I'm trying to be nice here). Life stopped being simple when we bought the diesel pusher.

Now I'm not complaining, I love the power, the space and the appliances that this thing has, but when you need work done on it, you must figure out who does what.

Remember, this is a 6-year-old motor coach that was very high end in it's day. It has cleaned up very well and is definitely a keeper. With that said, the previous owners did their level best to kill it by ignoring maintenance.

On our way to Texarkana last weekend, we had a leveling jack malfunction. We think it was a wet sensor since it was raining all the way here. The electrical plug in that you plug the engine heater into does not work. One of the new belts Camping World in Fort Myers put on is whistling at us and has ever since we took possession and drove it back to Texas. We had "idiot" lights and gauges on the dash that would mysteriously light up or ring/buzz and then go silent. Only to do it again sporadically as we went down the road.

Fortunately, Texarkana (Texas & Arkansas) has some very good places to get things worked on. For example, Artex Truck Center is on the Arkansas side of the state line. They are an International Truck Dealer but they are a Cummins certified repair shop as well. So we'll go there next week to have the engine checked out and that belt squeak silenced.

Next, the tires. When the new tires were installed the place that did the work did not install the extensions and supports necessary to check tire pressures on the dualies nor the tag. Friday afternoon we'll be going over to the GCR tire people to get this done, and yes, the dealership where we purchased this rig will pick up that tab since these essential parts were lost on their watch, thank you.

Next, the Hydro-Hot system. This wonderful system gives us hot water on demand... even when we're going down the road.It's also the furnace system since this is an all electric coach, no propane onboard here. Unless it's under 45 degrees, it runs well on just electric. Colder than that and it uses the diesel fuel. Luckily it sips instead of gulps. We're not sure who will be working on this but we do know it needs to be serviced faithfully every year or it will cost big $$$. That may wait till we get to Conroe, Texas in February.

On the way back to Teague we have an appointment in Longview, Texas. What's in Longview? A Spartan Chassis service center, authorized of course. That's who will take care of those pesky dash gremlins.

You may ask, if we had it to do all over again would we get rid of our simple gasoline powered rig for this complex behemoth?

You bet! For the full-time RV lifestyle, you can't beat the amenities and the power to go to the mountains without even breaking a sweat. We may decide to do more mountainous travel now. Personally, when we take our Alaska trip I'd love to take this thing up. But, Bob wants to fly. I've been to Alaska and I want to show him around. So I'll fly if it keeps him happy :-)

Till next time,

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

New Year -- New Beginnings

We left our home base in Teague today. We're starting the new year at a new park (to us that is). And it's another first... our first working trip in our new RV/Motor Coach (new to us that is -- again).

We had planned to be on the road by 10:00 a.m., but there were several things working against us. First, the weather. Yuck! It rained all night and as of this writing (at 2:00 pm. CST) it's still pouring. Creeks and rivers are close to spilling over their banks.

There is one good thing in our favor... it's 50 degrees outside and not FREEZING (thank goodness). Last Sunday Dallas/Ft. Worth and points east got 1+ inches of snow plus some icing on overpasses and bridges. Rain is much easier to navigate in a behemoth 42' 10" diesel pusher like ours. Truth is, we would not have attempted icy travel conditions.

Our destination today is Texarkana. Can you believe they received six inches of snow just last Sunday? What a difference a week makes!

I'm looking forward to seeing what the Arklatex area has to offer. I'll keep you posted. Glub... Glub!

Till next time...

Happy Trails,

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Getting On The Road Again

This year we are starting out a bit earlier with our travels. In a few days we'll be heading to the Texarkana KOA in Texarkana, Texas. We sure hope it doesn't get too dicey weather-wise... last week they got 6" of snow!

I'm a big chicken when it comes to driving in the white stuff. And it's not so much I doubt my abilities (although it's been so long since I drove on that stuff I am definitely aftraid of it), it's the other drivers I am concerned with. In Texas we have enough trouble with rain-slick streets. Adding snow to the mix is really problematic!

Bob's brother from Las Vegas and his wife arrived here on Monday, the day after the snowfall in Dallas. North Texas weather is literally a "crap-shoot" this time of year. Fortunately, their plane was not delayed or cancelled. One day earlier hundreds of DFW flights were cancelled and that would have been a disaster for the start of their visit.

I must say, our new-to-us 2004 Travel Supreme Select diesel pusher we picked up in Florida in October is very nice in cold weather. If you're fixing to get an RV, I'd strongly suggest getting a coach with thermal pane windows. We have not had wet windows once this winter, except for the windshield. Jesse, our black & white Chihuahua, loves the Hydro-Hot heating system. We now call him a "hot dog." He puts his little hiney right up against the furnace grate and literally becomes a hot dog.

As I said earlier, we're starting out our working year early this year by going to Texarkana. It's always exciting to see what new places are like. My parents, RVing snowbirds who flock to Yuma, Arizone from Illinois every winter, have stopped by the Oaklawn Opry many times on their way through Texarkana. They loved it. So I'm going to stop by and see if I can help them get more visitors and also enjoy a good show while we are in town.

This job will be both fun and a challenge since I'll be in both Texas and Arkansas seeking advertisers.

I just hope the big guy upstairs does not think it would be a hoot to see me slippin & slidin all over the place. Wish me luck :-)

Happy Trails...

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!