Blather

Stream-of-consciousness blather for now: I've been going to sleep for a couple of weeks, thinking of what my arrival in Fredericksburg would be like- setting up in the RV park, fixing dinner, etc. But the last couple of nights, I've been planning on how to leave Hayward before I get to Fredicksburg. The part about going down I-5 and over to Bakersfield, down to Tehachepi and down to I-10 then out to Texas remains unclear. The trip will take two days for sure, maybe three. But I still have to leave Hayward, and that's where this begins.

I've finished my contract. I left Baghdad on June 28th and arrived in California on June 29th. Suitable celebrations with Richie and Kimmie and the cats ensued. Maybe Pense and Schaffe came by for my visitation weekend. I rested and chatted with them and got ready for the Novato Fourth of July Parade with RMS. Did that, had fun, told lots of stories about Iraq. Now it's July 5th and I'm ready to begin the next phase of my life, traveling to Texas. Sure, if I find someplace I like before I get there, that's fine. But my plan is to drive to Fredericksburg, rent an RV spot for a month and see how the place wears on me. Here goes ...

I wake up on time July 5th. Oatmeal and Tetley's with Perry Mason at nine AM. Then I begin fixing my trailer. The first thing is the door, whose shade has disintegrated in 20+ years of sitting in the sun. I have to drill out the rivets holding the door together. I get the door disassembled, replace the shade and re-rivet the door together. But while the door's apart, I decide to laminate a layer of fabric-backed vinyl wall covering over the door to make it look nicer. That takes another day and a few extra $$$. Now I'm very satisfied with the door.
I get a sharp putty knife and remove the coving from the corners of the shower. I peel away the wall covering that was originally there and hit the walls with my pogo stick, sanding the crusty parts off. Going to TAP plastics, I talk about a primer before I laminate the walls with fiberglass and resin. I get some extra spreaders because I think the wet fiberglass will need to get squeegeed out before the resin sets. I talk to them about putting on vinyl wall covering over the fiberglass. But I think, since I can't get patterned fiberglass cloth, I'll go with just the tinted resin over plain white fiberglass cloth. I check Home Depot for more plastic coving to nail and glue in the corners before I start the fiberglass. Then I bondo any edges so the cloth will look very smooth in the corners. Applying the bondo and waiting to sand it smooth takes some time, but I get a good basis before I take a chance with the fiberglass cloth and tinted resin. And I remember to do the corners of the ceiling, too. While I'm doing the ceiling, I take out the light fixture because I want to replace the automotive light bulb with some new LED lights from AutoZone. I have to noodle a bit on how to modify what I've got to accommodate the to-the-rear-only LED lights. Once I figure that out, I may re-do all the light fixtures because LEDs are more energy efficient. Heck, I might re-do all of them just because I don't want old fixtures. Might take a ride to the RV store and see what they have for fixtures, too, while the bondo is curing.

With the one shower ceiling light fixture out, I finish the corners and the bondoing of the entire shower. Then I sand what needs sanding. Then I apply the fiberglass cloth and squeegee it out with the plastic spreaders. I even shape one plastic putty knife to fit the corners so I can get everything just right. I take down the shower holder so I can do that part of the wall, too. And the bifolding shower curtain comes down so I can take it outside and scrub it well. I contemplate replacing it with a normal shower curtain. This remains to be seen. Yes, I make a much bigger job of re-doing the walls than the walls required. But I have a pretty good shower afterwards and this might be my main shower for an indeterminate future. I thought the shower would take me three days, but it's more like a week.

Then I start on the curtains. Kimmie helps, and we plan to get them done in about four days. Some of the curtain hardware we recycle. Some we can't. I decide to go with an off-the-shelf curtain for the kitchen window because it's small and nothing gets damaged if it flops a bit on the bottom. Then I go with a shade instead. That gives us more sliding things to sew onto the curtains where they slide in a curved track. The bathroom shade gets replaced as well. The curtains involve issues that I didn't anticipate, but we get them done in a week.
I reinforce the cabinet under the microwave and attache my toaster oven to the top of the microwave. I noodle if I want a toaster so I can have bagels, etc. and decide to use either the comal on top of the stove or the toaster oven if I have shore power. I don't like the contrast between the black toaster oven and the white microwave, so at the last minute, a trip to Home Depot gives me a can of white stove paint that I use after I disassemble the toaster oven. This is the same toaster oven we had when Richie lived in our first apartment in San Leandro. Yes, Bonnie was there, too. I'm not sure why I want this old toaster oven. I was pretty secure in my marriage then and maybe this toaster oven is a tangible memory of those good times. I think I'll keep it, white over black over rusty chrome. I won't touch the inside, apart from some scrubbing, because I don't want to flavor my bagels with burned paint.

The toaster oven took another couple of days, and I'm running out of July. What's left? The shower's fine, the curtains are done. The door is good. The toaster oven's fine. Oh, my bed. Sure, I look around for a mattress like I had in Dubai. Boy, that was a very comfy foam mattress. I noodle over spending some $120 or so at Ikea on a Swedish foam mattress. I take Richie and Kimmie and we go there. I ask to lay the mattress on the floor so I can see how it feels without springs. I like it. And I'm flush enough to decide to pop for the extra retail price instead of the craigslist price. I bring the mattress home and make another cardboard template. I cut the corner off and save the piece for later. I use the template to trim some fitted sheets so I can have fitted sheets. Kimmie helps me with the stretchy stuff around the trimmed part of the two fitted sheets. One for putting on, the other for when I want to wash the dirty one. I suppose I could get by with only one sheet, but the hausfrau in me wants two. And one is flannel, so when it's cold, my tush won't get chilly. The extra piece I make into a sheet-covered pillow, for the corner up by the headboard. That makes my bed very nest-like, roundy at the foot, and with a roundy pillow at the head. Then I put some extra pillows there, including that one long Thai pillow and maybe a small triangle-shaped Thai pillow. If I decide there are too many pillows, I can stuff some in the closet or put them on the couch in the front room.

The bed's done. And I've got four storage tubs for stuff- Rennie gear, Dickens gear and Cowboy Action Shooting gear. Do I really need to take my Rennie stuff to Texas? I decide to do so, since I'm not sure when I'll be back. Maybe I'll stay in the RV park for a few months. And I take an empty tub, since I don't have anything to put in him. The shelves in my closet hold my clothes, as many as I want to take. I'll take one suit and two dress shirts and a pair of nice shoes. I'll put my black steel-toed work boots in there, along with my cowboy boots. At the last minute, I put in my roller skates, too. I might go roller skating on a family night, just for fun. I take my tennies and my crocs for sentimental reasons. And a pair of Iraq boots. I can't make up my mind whether to take the steel-toed Marine Corps boots or the softer 511s. So my shelves have a mix of tan 511 pants and blue BDUs. I've got some tan 511 shirts and some light and dark Customs shirts without the patches. And a ample collection of T-shirts. I try to find a way to hang my Morion and cowboy hat and Rennie hat on the walls so I don't have to use a storage tub for them. I get fussy- sure a nail would do, but I don't want to look tacky. I want something nice.
I get Richie to help me run some cable from the access hatch near the door to both just inside the door where I want my TV and the back, where I want the other TV. Ditto some ethernet connections so I can have a laptop on the couch and/or a desktop on my desk in the bedroom. And I try to use the two drawers that Riche took out from the family room because 1) I like to re-use resources and 2) I like to have something from my house in my trailer. Along that line, I also talk to Richie about having a 110VAC light in the trailer, the switch to which goes in the wall with my pewter light switch cover just inside the door. Oh, it's good to have a second switch maybe in the back, but I want to have my pewter light switch cover in my trailer, too. And I leave the 12V light under the desk, since there's a hatch to the outside there. But I also want another 12V cigarette lighter outlet (or two) there.

Then Richie and I look for a 12V TV, just in case I'm where 110VAC isn't available. We also take a ride to the RV store and talk about a second (and third) deep-cycle battery so I can get some 12V fans in case the power fails on my 110VAC air conditioner. Lots of technical dealings with vendors. Richie and I come up with solutions that please me. I spend a few $$$, but I'm happy with what I get.

Whew! I didn't know I had so many loose ends to tie up before I was satisfied. But now it seems Last Resort is ready. I do one more thing- I phone Lee's Tires and ask Lester if he can do some checks on the tires. We work something out. Now I change the oil in my truck and get Lester to check my spare. Richie and I take a ride to the wreckers and see if I can find one rim that matches my truck's aluminum ones because the spare is the stock tire and is a bit smaller than the ones on the four rims. We find one and get Lester to put one of my old 30" tires on it, with a tube inside. This is a spare I can trust.

I'll need to make a spare tire mount for the trailer, too. I got the trailer with a loose spare tire on a pallet. And I want to make a custom spare tire cover for him, maybe from a Toyota van. And I'll need to paint "Last Resort" on him. While I'm doing that, may as well make a bicycle carrier for my Rotterdam bike. Though if Kimmie expresses a wish to keep it, I may let that bike stay in Hayward and take my too-tall mountain bike, though I gotta get him a third sprocket and some new tires. Decisions, decisions!

One evening, we take a ride to Best Buy and see about a different radio for my truck as well as a connector for the CD player I got from Bonnie that I'd like to put in Last Resort. I don't like what I see, so I'll keep the cassette player for the truck.

Richie and I make a tool kit for the road. I decide to take my Honda, so the ramps go too. That leaves less space in the bed for tools. But I squeeze in the generator and MIG welder and air compressor. My 3/4" drive set goes, and so does a pretty good set of 1/2" and 3/8" sockets, my hammers and screwdrivers, etc. I have a couple of footlockers from Iraq, so I use them for tools. A lot of my tools stay back with Richie, but I don't mind because he's good with them. I probably would get by with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver, but I like tools, so I take more. Painting tools? No. Plumbing? Well, maybe a bit of teflon tape and a small pipe wrench. Woodworking tools? My Japanese saw and some sandpaper. Gardening? Nope.

I think I'm done with mechanical preparations. One last item is my small six-pack cooler that goes in the front seat with me. But I think I'm done except for food.

Richie and I put some steaks in plastic bags and put 'em in my freezer. Ditto some hamburgers and chicken pieces. Before I let them get hard-frozen, I put some sauce in the bags so when I thaw them out, they'll have a bit of flavor. If I decide to barbecue, that's fine and if I decide to pan-fry them, the flavor will be good there, too. I have some ice trays (from ancient history, methinks) and I know my one Aussie ice tray is there. I put a case of Richiebrau under the sink and an extra six in the door of the fridge. Kimmie helps me pack some few veggies, including a quart of tomatoes from my backyard, in the bottom of the fridge, along with a bit of farmer's market goodies- an eggplant, some onions, etc. The fridge gets full and is happy. I put my aluminum ladder in the bed of the truck along with the home-made hibachi (from the old stove) and some charcoal briquets in a couple of one-gallon paint cans.

One afternoon, we check everything- the trailer's fine, the truck's fine, the motorcycle's secure in back, and so are the tools. I wash the truck carefully, trying not to wet the stuff in back. I clean the insides of the windows, too. Then I wash Last Resort, too. I coil the 110VAC extension cord and the sewer drain hose. I put in the locking wheel chocks. I double check everything. Then Richie and Kimmie and I have dinner. In the morning, I'm off.

Dinner is good. Richie makes his usual terrific dinner. Kimmie talks more than usual. The cats sense something's up, but are nice anyway. I get to talk to Sam a bit. Of course, he doesn't understand me, nor even come close to grasping why I bother talking to him. But I get the usual stare from him and that suffices. I can't sleep because tomorrow's the day. Can I stall and stay home one more day? Sure. But I've stalled plenty. Tomorrow's the day to begin. With a full stomach, we sit and talk.

Richie's concerned that I'll be too tired if I drive beyond Bakersfield, but trying to get to Arizona might be possible. Me, I don't know where I'll go. I'll try for Bakersfield but since I won't be driving fast, I may stop sooner. For sure, I'll stop at Kettleman City for diesel and burgers and I'll see if I can stay within my former 17-minute pit stop routine. Used to take me 17 minutes from leaving I-5 till I got back on I-5. 'Tis but a small item. If my stop takes 20 minutes or 30 or more, it's all right. Not much to look at till well beyond Kettleman City. Should I try for a more scenic route? Go on Yahoo maps and see if I can head east from Bakersfield along some small roads till I get to Nevada? Or should I stay on the interstate and see what amenities await the frugal RVer? I am confident that I can stop in a Walmart parking lot for one night, maybe near the California-Arizona border. Then I could drive across Arizona and New Mexico, maybe a bit beyond El Paso the next day, and arrive in Fredericksburg on the afternoon of the third day. I wouldn't be too tired from driving, and I could even see how my trailer handles in an RV park. When I stop at a Walmart parking lot, I could have dinner and breakfast there, then do a fuel and food pit stop somewhere along the way.

This storyline would be better if I were online and could plan out my driving. Is there a decent Walmart east of Bakersfield? What's the scoop with the road along Arizona and New Mexico? Would I like to stop in New Mexico for a day or two, just to see what it's like? Richie said he didn't like it. Maybe I'll fuel up in Arizona and just motor on through New Mexico, below the speed limit. From El Paso, I recall a lot of miles until Kerrville. I may stop in Kerrville and see what their RV park is like. After all, it's just 26 miles to Fredericksburg and I can do that on the Honda or even in my truck. And I may find some property in Kerrville to look at before I go to Fbg. Too many possibilities here. But I have been focusing on my arrival in Fbg- the set-up, the cooking dinner, the walking to the grocery store, etc. Maybe if it's not too late, I can stretch a bit and take those last 26 miles to Fbg.