Bustin' Loose...

 

If you said, "A movie from 1981, starring Richard Prior," you get 100 bonus points.  I'm impressed - not one of Prior's best roles.

But, today, the bustin' loose is about getting our motorhome back from Winnebago.  After taking 3 times longer than the said.  Of course, about 10 days of that was because they decided last minute to close over the holidays.  We were originally told the coach would be ready between Christmas and New Years, then January 3rd, then January 10, then... who knows?

But, today was the day!  We left John's this morning just before 7:30.  It was cold, and the snow got heavier as we headed north and east to Forest City, Iowa...

 

It was 19º when we got there just before 11:00.  They take lunch between 11:00 and 11:30, but the team that worked on our coach said they'd put lunch off and bring the coach out for us.  We walked around the outside - everything looks good.  Then, moving inside, they went over all the work they did.  There are some differences compared to what it used to look like, all for the good.  The padded ceiling fabric is just a bit creamier colored.  The air conditioner venting looks a bit whiter.  All new lights and speakers.  This powered antenna looks similar, but seems to work much better (newer technology).  A new switcher box for the TVs.  The only thing we could find that needed attention: a black plastic nut that holds the on/off switch for the vent fan in the bathroom was missing; they brought one out while I did the paperwork and gave them $$$$$...

 

Decisions: stay the night and check everything out more thoroughly... or: start heading south and west.  We decided to make some miles - there is a winter storm that will move along our route home.  We can get as far as we can before the storm comes up behind us.  We were planning to take our time heading home, but that isn't going to happen... or, we will be waiting it out somewhere along the way.

Joan drove separate with the Equinox, me piloting the Aspect.  The coach is quieter... well, it should be, considering the busted out skylights (taped over) and seriously wounded roof.  But, it seems even quieter than before the hail damage.  There was an unfriendly quartering headwind for most of the drive... and you notice the higher profile compared to the sleek Equinox.  I missed all the wiz-bang features in the Equinox.  Older technology with the Aspect, plus... it's a truck chassis.  The seats in the Equinox are heated, no so with the Aspect; but, the Aspect driver's seat feels like home.  Plus, I was able to drive the motorhome 65 to 70 miles per hour... couldn't do that after all the hail damage.  And I don't tow that fast when double towing.

As we rolled south, the snow along the road decreased in depth...

 Joan has the built-in nav in the car and Apple maps on CarPlay.  I have the Rand McNally RV GPS in the coach, the portable Garmin, and my Apple Watch connected to Maps...

We stayed to Interstates, except for the trek from Winnebago to I-35.  South on that, then west on I-80.  We skirted Des Moines, Omaha, and Lincoln.  Just outside of Omaha, we were treated to a striking evening sky...

Rufus rode with me in the coach.  He was unsettled in the car on the way to Forest City... after having the run of the place at John's house.  He napped most of the time once we left Winnebago, occasionally hopping up on my lap.  We stopped a couple times so he could have his usual meal schedule, but drove well past dark to get as far as we could.

We'll get up early and do it all again tomorrow.  Straight south.  And now to get a bit moved back into the motorhome.

Memories...

 

If you said, "From the song, The Way We Were, by Barbara Streisand, written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, and Marvin Hamlisch, 1973, made famous in the movie of the same name," you get 20 bonus points, mostly for that run-on sentence.

As families are wont to do when gathering, we looked through some photos while here at John's.  Some, I haven't seen for decades.  Hope you can indulge me on this look back; my sisters, my Mother, and little ol' me...

 That's Connie on the left, Joan on the right.  Joan and I were very close; she was certainly an important part of my upbringing.  Joan and Connie...

They were 11 months apart.  And then I came along almost 13 years later.

A photo of Joan in her later years, with Nikki the cat...

And this photo that makes me remember my sister as the fashion plate she was back in the 70s...

I often joke about being poor and having to wear hand-me-downs.  I did not look that good in hot pants and go-go boots.  (rimshot)

We lost my sister Joan in 2006.  I miss her terribly.  John worshipped her.  I wish they could have had these "golden years" together.  I don't take for granted the years my Joan and I get to share.

Sleeping triple in a double bed...

 

If you said, "The song by Barbara Mandrell, 1978," you get no bonus points.  Close, but that title was Sleeping Single In A Double Bed.

Settling in at John's place last night.  We have our own bedroom suite on a different level in the house.  The bed, however, is a double bed.  We are used to a queen size bed.  Rufus has plenty of room between us, down by our feet.  At home.  This was snug... especially so when Rufus decided to take "his half" entirely on my side.  We were all tired; we all dealt with it.

Rufus and John have hit it off nicely.  When my sister was alive, she always had cats, so John is certainly accustomed to their presence.  I don't think he was prepared for how sweet Rufus truly is.  And Rufus is having fun, looking all around the house.  We offered to keep Rufus in our room, but John has allowed him the run of the house... and he keeps commenting on how nice Rufus is... and how he thinks Rufus would like "spending the winter" with him.

"No!  Bad John!  Rufus stays with us!"  ;-)

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The Dam Tour...

When Steph and I were here last month, John took us on the newly built dam on the family farm property.  John was the impetus behind that, and worked with the government from start up to the end of the project.  We enjoyed the tour, and John offered to take us out there again so Joan could see it...

 This time, we were able to bundle up and walk around the area.  We'll need to come back sometime when everything is green - it's a pretty, rural, setting.

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What is this?

Rufus has been getting a good "work out" while here at John's - it's a flight of steps to get to our bedroom.  The big furry boy will sometimes get the momentum going and nearly go rolling by the time he gets to the bottom of the stairs.  Joan suggested an outdoor walk this afternoon.  I put on my winter coat and got Ruf leashed up to head out; he was anxious to look around when I opened the front door.  The street in front of John's house has traffic that is going by at a pretty good pace; well, compared to the 10 to 15 mph traffic on our island.  Rufus is not a big fan of cars going by, fairly close.  He handled it.

It was chilly in the shade, so we walked to the sunshine - that felt better.  I don't Rufus has been in the snow before.  45º outside, and what I call "Iowa snow"... it has had a chance to set up a bit, so is mostly crunchy, not soft and powdery.  He marched across the snow like it was just white colored ground...

Not sure what I was expecting - maybe some paw shaking or sniffing the snow - but, no, he just walked right out on it.  Didn't really pay that much attention to it, other than the fact it was covering the grass.  When he found some bare grass, I think he was disappointed that it was brown... and dry.  Nothing like the tasty green grass he is used to at home.  Still, a good outing for his first time walking about in an Iowa winter.

Made it...

 

I am getting too old for this crap.  In order to be able to spend more time with my brother-in-law, John, we drove all night to get from south Texas to Iowa... 5 states, over 1,300 miles... in 24 hours.

We used to do stuff like this in our younger years.  I'm talking like 40 years ago.  These days, when traveling in comfort in the motorhome, we generally do 250 to 300 miles a day... then, settle in early and kick back.  This week, we are working with a weather related "deadline."  We're picking up the motorhome from Winnebago on Monday, plan to spend the day checking out all the stuff that was done in this extensive repair, then haul southward on Tuesday... to get outta Iowa before the next winter front moves in.

As it is, we saw lows of 14º in the past 24 hours.  We haven't seen that kind of temperature since we lived in South Dakota many years ago.  Don't want to see it again.  That said, we ran into a bit of rain, a couple snow flurries, but mostly c-c-c-cold.

We left our home in the Tropical Tip around 2:00 yesterday afternoon.  Our plan was to roll through the worst of the potential traffic crush in the corridor between San Antonio and Fort Worth during the night.  For the most part, that worked out.  We didn't plan for the truck in the lane to the right of us hitting something in the road and blowing apart a wheel!  We dodged flying metal and sparks... and came through unscathed.  Unfortunately for about a half dozen other vehicles, including a UPS truck, they blew out tires and suffered other damage.  This happened between New Branufels and Buda... no way to safely stop to render help in that traffic.  Seconds after I was able to unpucker my ass from the seat, we are already several car lengths beyond the fray.

The other heart-in-throat moment happened this morning when passing a semi... the driver must have fallen asleep (this was before sunrise), and the truck swerved into our lane.  I saw it coming and pulled hard to the right, onto a fairly wide shoulder with an imposing concrete barrier separating it from oncoming traffic.  The driver abruptly swerved back into his lane and picked up speed.  I had no intention of trying to finish the pass I started.

All that aside, it was mostly the rigors of trying to stay awake... we took shifts driving... and checking on each other.  Shut-eye didn't happen, but we did stop regularly; for gas, pottying, and feeling that cold blast of air to help keep you awake.

We will likely "pay for this" in never catching up on lost sleep, but the Equinox did an admirable job; comfortable, secure feeling and handling, and power on tap with that 2.0 with the turbo and 9 speeds.

We pulled into John's driveway just before 2:00 this afternoon.  He got the opportunity to meet Rufus.  Speaking of Rufus: this is his first ever long car trip.  I probably haven't mentioned this before, but he is a good boy.  He did fine with new situation.  Although, he seems real happy to be in John's house.

A few photos of the excursion...

No trek across Texas is complete without a stop at a Buc-ee's (or two)...

 Even in the middle of the night, traffic can come to a stand-still in that corridor...

I had my doubts when Joan suggested we do this in one day.  No way would I have tried this if running solo.

We did get a short nap in before supper this evening.  And to spread the love around, Rufus spent some time on John's lap.  "No, John - you cannot have Rufus."

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Oh, I forgot my favorite part of the trip: we stopped for a sandwich at Chick-fil-A.  No, that's not my favorite part.  When paying for the order, the girl at the window exclaimed: "Is that a cat?  Oh, my god, he's SO cute!"  (Rufus was sitting on the console between us.)

I said, "His name is Rufus and he's a pretty social boy."

"Oh, hi Rufus!  You are so handsome!"

Within about 10 seconds, there were 5 Chick-fil-A employees squeezing in around the window to see the cute cat.  Yes, Rufus likes the attention.  Especially from the girls.  Besides being a good boy, he is a chick magnet.  ;-)

Confirmation...

 

The new Supreme Court nominee?  No, that name hasn't been announced, yet.  Hopefully, that process goes fast and easy.  One final confirmation with my buddy Michael at Winnebago to confirm that the work is done and all the test/checks have been done.  Yep.

We are loading the Equinox for it's first road trip.  First big road trip not in the motorhome for Rufus.  He has watched the gathering and stacking, so he knows something is up.  The boy is pretty intuitive.

We have a route; we have a plan; Mother Nature, as always, will have her say in how it all plays out.  Wintertime in the mid-west... can't say I am excited to make the trip, but I am really looking forward to have the motorhome back.

See ya down the road.

One more check...

 

You mean like "the check's in the mail"?  No.  There was one more thing I was looking to try on the scoot... we haven't ridden together since I received the molded earplugs; I wanted to see if our helmet communicators would be functional with those earplugs in.

Now, for full disclosure, I could have done that by putting the earplugs in, putting on the helmet, turning on the communicator, and linking it to some music.  But, where's the fun in that?  This was an excuse for getting out for one more ride before we head to the frozen northland.  Plus, a "bonus weather day" today: the weasels were calling for precip today; I woke up to some lovely sunshine.  Got out on my bicycle.  Took Rufus for a walk.  Then decided to take Joan's Xmax out for this "sound check."

I probably ride 5 days out of 7 if the weather is cooperative.  Joan saves her riding for when we are in places where the riding is more fun.  I get that.  But, I do try to ride her bike once in a while... I'm thoughtful that way.  Considering the weather forecast from last night, I didn't think I'd get another ride in.

Cool (63º) and mostly sunny when I headed out on the Xmax.  A good outing, and the Xmax is fun to ride.  I could hear the sound from the communicator just fine (put on a YouTube video so it would be "talking").  When we're ready to ride together again, there should be no issue.  Joan did get one of the molded earplug kits, but better to do that right before she's ready to use it.  My earplugs made it delightfully quiet, while still being able to hear the ambient sounds around you and the helmet communicator.

We are gathering and planning.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...

 

If you said, "A 1966 Italian 'spaghetti Western' film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood," you get 40 bonus points.  The title refers to the three main characters in the film played by Clint Eastwood (the good), Lee Van Cleef (the bad) and Eli Wallach (the ugly).  If you can whistle the theme song to that movie, you get 3 more bonus points.

This post is about: the good - I got out on the Vespa today; the bad - the weather weasels lied again; and the ugly - I used a GoPro.  Now I remember why I haven't used the GoPro since getting the Insta360 cameras: the GoPro sucks ass.

"Why would you say that, Jim (referring to the GoPro?"  Thanks for asking; I do appreciate your curiosity.  The GoPro has been unreliable since I bought it.  I upgraded the operating system in it, thinking it might help it.  It didn't.  This PoC (Piece of Crap) GoPro is what made me buy that first Insta360, a One R.  It was so good, I bought another Insta360, a One X2.  Both of those cameras just work.  Plus, you can decide the view after you shoot, instead of the fixed view of the GoPro (yes, I knew that about it before I bought it).  The Insta360 cameras are a delight to use compared to the GoPro.

"Well then, why did you use the GoPro today?"  Again, thanks for asking.  It takes time to edit the Insta360 video, because you are able to look (literally) every direction... so, you have to "look around" to decide which view you want.  Today, the GoPro lost connection with my phone (I use the phone as a remote to operate the camera) 6 times.  No, there is nothing wrong with my phone - it works fine will all my other apps.  Yes, I did download the latest update for the GoPro app before I left the house.  And, the GoPro locked up twice... you have to pull the battery out of it and start it again to be able to use it.  Which means pulling over on the scoot and getting off because you need both hands to open up the GoPro.  Oh, and all this was in the first 30 minutes of my outing.

On one of those pull-overs, I tested the camera by taking a selfie photo (instead of video)...

 I did shoot some video, but it is a yawn compared to the 360 video I usually shoot.  I may splice together the bits of video that the camera allowed and post it here later.

The "Bad": the weather weasels were predicting "sunny, a high of 74º"... it didn't happen.  As you can see from the photos above, it was a pretty solid overcast.  Oh, we did have a few minutes of sun, but the temperature climbed up to 61º and stopped there.  Wind out of the north at 14 mph.  So, yeah, it was cool.

The "Good": I was happy to get out on the scoot.  The weather has been chilly, windy, and drizzly the last few days.  The Vespa and I were in need of some time together.  I put a fleece vest under my recently acquired riding suit, and was perfectly comfortable.

While riding on the island, there were quite a few people walking and riding bicycles on Gulf Blvd; some were definitely headed for the beach.  I feel for those people if this is "their week" that they get to be here - not much in the way of our typical tropical weather this week.  More drizzly forecast for tomorrow through Friday.  It beats shoveling snow, but that north wind is chilly... no fun to be out on the beach in that.

Today was my day to get in some riding.  I spoke with my guy at Winnebago this morning, and he assures me our motorhome will be done "Wednesday or Thursday"... they will keep it inside until we pick it up on Monday the 31st.  We have our route, stuff gathered for the car, and will be rolling north soon.

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A relatively quick edit, and here's the video...