Austin Looks Good

We arrived in Austin yesterday. I am just now at a point of sharing that with you. We decided we had to fill out the cobra forms and get them in the mail before we were going to get to Austin so we left the Escape in Goodyear AZ, and headed down the highway. It was an easy drive. RV cruised at 80MPH with no issues. We arrived at Mike and Mindy's about 3:30 pm CST.

We are working on the forms for cobra but they are so confusing I called the company and they can't figure them. I am waiting for them to all me back so we can complete the forms and get that task out of the way.

Go Figure! Just got a call from the Ford dealer in Goodyear and the Escape is ready! that was a fast fix after a wait for 3 or 4 days for a tranny to arrive from Tennessee. Awesome. I have a plane ticket for next Tue Feb 2 to go pick up the car. They are very nice there and said no problem them keeping the car until I arrive. The new tranny is a little heaver and has a cooler on it.

So Mindy just got back from the doctor and no change from last week. The Doc wants her to come by again next week and if she hasn't started then he will check her twice a week but won't allow the baby to wait until week number 41. So it will be soon! Hope I get back from Phoenix in time!

Next we start looking for a place to park the RV other than Mike and Mindy's driveway.
Happy to be here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Where What WHY!

Sorry for the delay with the blog. I tried to us my iphone to update it but that failed. Go figure.
We Stopped in LA and spent the night with Richard and Jane Graves, Mike's parents. It was great getting to see and spend time with them again. We had a nice dinner at Marie Calendars(SP?) We connected the Ford back to the RV on Saturday morning and were on the road for Phoenix. We were rolling right along for many miles. No issues. it was a pleasent drive as thee was no rain! We got within 35 miles of our destination and I looked at the monitor for the rear camera and something was funny, I saw smoke coming out from under the hood of the Escape.
So the blogs seemed to be somewhat correct that I had read. Anyway we had just pulled off the road and validated the Escape was broken. I was trying to determine just where I was when our friend Pam called to see where we were. After trying to explain where we were, she and Carl were only a few miles down the road from where we were, so they were there quickly. I called AAA and got them rolling to tow the car to a dealer. We found out today that a new transmission has to be put in and it is being shipped from Tennessee, with a 3-4 day delivery. They say they can get it in right away as they are in their off season. So hopefully we will be able to get on the road by Friday. If not Friday, then we are looking at Monday. I understand I am getting introduced to the world of RV'ing.
Our friends Carl and Pam have a lot in "Surprise, AZ" and so far we have been able to have our RV parked next to them. We have power and will hook up water. So we are doing well.
Now the bad part. Our reason for stopping is to see Brian and Christie, Pam's son and daughter-in-law. They just had a baby Sadie Mae. This was to be a happy time but complications Sadie's arrival and she is not expected to make it. She will probably go home tomorrow and they will be working with hospice. This is so tragic. She is a beautiful baby girl. People across the nation have been praying for Sadie. God is in control and we have placed her in His hands. Please keep the prayers coming. We do have a god of miracles!
Well that is why we have been off the air for a couple of days.
I jost spoke with my friend Collin and our Town and Country is still in CA. They never picked it up. What is one to do?

Rain rAin raIn raiN RAINNNNNNNNNNN & WIND

So, I spent an hour out in the rain with 60 mph wind gust dumping the holding tanks of the rv. Trying to disconnect everything and get the RV ready to move to the RV dalership to fix a couple of minor problems. That was really fun!
Then we hit the road with Linda following me in our Ford Escape. It was all I could do to keep the Motor home in between the lines. Wind would hit and I had to really work on keeping it between the lines. Kind of like the old times at Disney Land. It was an E ticket ride.
We signed up for a hotel room but could not check in until after 3pm so we took Lizzie over to get another grooming so she will look really nice for the trip. She looks great. Linda got a hair cut and we went by the old house to see how the wetlands was doing after all the rain. I guess it is working well as it is basically at the highest I have seen it.
We are finally in the hotel room and ready to relax prior to our hitting the road. Rain and wind is not supposed to be so bad tomorrow.
LA however is getting slammed today. The Grapevine is closed due to snow. Guess where I have to drive through tomorrow? You got it. Grapevine. So let's hope the roads get cleared and by tomorrow afternoon/evening we can get over the Grapevine as we enter LA. Then there is all the rain and flooding that is happening there. Wow. Maybe CA doesn't want us to leave!
So goes our day.

Ready Set Go

Well due to some weather and probably a tired bozo, Linda's car was not picked up for transport.
So here we sit still in CA. My friend Collin comes to the rescue once again. I delivered the car to his shop and called the carrier and gave them his name and addr to pickup the car. Yep, he bailed me out again.
1/20/2010 we will give up our temporary address at the Loomis RV park and take the RV to the RV dealership for a couple of minor repairs. We are spending the night in a close by hotel and plan on hitting the road 1/21/2010.
The weather is trying to change my mind about leaving now. CA is under siege with water falling here there and everywhere. LA is getting slammed, Sac is slammed. Wind is flexing it's mussle. I have already felt it and haven't been on the road yet.
Look out LA we will be headed your way soon.
AZ your next.
Then comes Austin!.
Can't wait to see the kids.
Hay Beck "Get-er done" I am praying for you. I hope the lack of FB activity means that you are busy bringing Miss Beck to a face to face meeting.

Sunday already here and gone

Well we find that Linda's first weekend being un-employeed is almost over. We have had a busy weekend. We got to have a great time with Karen down in Galt. We ate at this awesome restaurant called Squeeze Inn (sp?). Great food. Looooootssssssss of cheese great taste. Then we went to see the house she is purchasing. What a lovely home. Our prayer is that the bank will some how get off their duffs and get the process rolling down the road.
We got some running done to pick up wires to enable me to connect our RV TV as HiDef instead of using the coax.

So Sunday got here and we got to sleep in. It has been awhile but it felt great. I then got up and started working on the TV and finally got it off the wall. I found a way to connect the wires up and get it back on the wall. So finally we have Hi Def TV both via air antenna and via our dish and especially via the dvd player. It looks awesome. Wow our RV home feels like a Rudd home now. Oh yea, a few more trips to the stores like FRY's etc. Now I have stuff to take back. What a plan! Then we went to dinner with Dave and Teresa. It was fun chatting about what has been happening.
We left Lizzie in the RV while having dinner. She was not happy. She spent her evening ripping out the screen in the lower part of the rv door. Guess what gets added to tomorrow's list of things to do! NO it is not to get rid of Lizzie! I will replace the screen and then put a blockaid in the lower screen to show her who is the boss! Ha Ha!

I finally created a list of things to be done when we are ready to hit the road. Was I surprised when I got finished. There are 20 items on the list. Wow what a lot to do before pulling away from the RV park. So we are ready to start our week with both of us in the RV all day. Glad I got a list of things that we have to go do tomorrow. That will probably kill off most of the day.
So pray for the weather in the south and east to return to normal. Aren't we supposed to be having a global warming deal now! What I see in the weather forcast show little warming!
So I will soon lay me down to sleep so I can get my day started nice and early!

Last Day of work

Linda completed her final day of work at EMF. For the first time in our lives we are both un-employeed. A different feeling for sure. Linda's car had a failure last weekend and a lower end oxygen sensor went bad. We were able to get it fixed the same day, Sat. We paid the bill and cintinued our weekend. Then after talking with family members the question was raised, should that have been covered under warrenty? I called but did not get a call back. So today, Linda's van was having some electrical issue. Back to the dealer and they were going to check out the problem. I also challenged the warrenty issue and found that it was covered under warranty. So we got a refund and put just about the same amount back into it to replace the battery. Oh well, that is the way the cookie crumbles I guess. CA needs to extract every last penney from me before I get across the state line.
So we press on. Both cars are now back at the park and we are ready to push forward. Hopefully by early next week the parts will arrive to install the towbar on the Escape.
The van is scheduled to be picked up a week from Monday to ship it back to Tennessee. So now the van is in good running shape we are going to put it out to pasture for a few months.
A few more items need to be moved from the RV to the van which will happen anytime now.
Everything I get out of the RV the better it looks. Two boxes were emptied today and are out of the front seat area. So I can see the dash again. A necessary thing when you want to head down the highway. So we close this day with more done to prepare us for departure. Next week: Social Security Admin. Let's get that started! Who knows how long that will last.
Amazing how the days fly by.

We have been busy!

Here goes:

1. The house sold, closed and did it early! In this market! Early!

2. We compressed our 2900 sq ft house down to a pod 16x8x8.

3. Lots of left overs: Trips to the dump, Lots of trips to Goodwill, and Friends who worked hard to get rid of us. I Love Them all, with out them we would of collapsed under the weight of the load.

4. Bought a class C RV, sold the truck, have plans to ship the mini van back east to TN.

5. Cars were loaded after the move out of the house. 8 more boxes were shipped to TN. Possibly one more box will be on the way soon.

5. Linda quit her job which was the last link holding us in CA. Her last day is Friday 1/8/2010.

6. The computer work I planned on doing while waiting to leave CA now is a pressing issue. Guess I better put my nose to the grind stone and get it done so we can leave town.

7. So the light at the end of this tunnel appears to be car lights on the highway. They are really getting bright now!

8. I love it when a plan comes together. However this plan is a bit scarry. Only God could arrange the timing of this one. So we will be on the road sooooooon. I will be back.