Waiting out the weather again.

Not much to report today – we are still in Ottawa, KS. Decided to stay here for a couple of reasons. From here we will go southwest. We had planned on going to Halsted, KS just a little northwest of Wichita. But after watching the weather channel we see that whole area is expecting severe weather tonight. And we don’t want to be in that. Where we are we should again be just on the edge of the weather. To travel far enough west to be out of the weather it was just too many miles to go. Also Bill’s allergies have come back in force today. He can’t go 5 minutes without sneezing or wiping his eyes. Not a good time to drive. We are not in a hurry to get anywhere – so why purposely go to bad weather or drive in it.

So we hunkered in here and watched the gray clouds and TV and read.

Last night we watched the NASCAR race. My driver came in 5^th – wish he could have won but 5^th is good. And he stayed out of all the trouble. Four or five other drivers got into physical discussions after the race. Just like the “good ole days.”

Fixed a good dinner last night – chicken with vegetables and pasta. Easy and filling and pretty colors. Tonight leftovers. I’ve decided I’m going to cook more this year while in the Alfa – even use the oven. Kind of got out of the habit the last few years.

Watched a video our son and his fiancé (for 6 more days – then his wife) made for a woman who lost her son. Brought me to tears. It is on facebook on Paul and Tina’s Signalong. 

BLUE SKY

Another day – another 193 miles. We did actually get going this morning. The day is nice. Blue sky and sun shine. Still cool but not cold. Hope it stays like this. Ever the optimist.

Eventually the clouds broke last night and we (I) got to watch the Nationwide race. It was a wreck fest! Thirteen cars were out before the race was half way finished.  Kyle only finished 2^nd. Or as he calls it “the first loser.” Tonight is the Cup race and he starts on the pole. Hope he finishes good.

Got up early and watched the Argentina vs Brazil soccer game – 7:00 a.m.! Argentina LOST! Shame on them.

We got on the road about 9:30. Got diesel in Missouri as again it was cheaper then will be in Kansas $3.29 a gallon. We were paying more than that for gas in Indiana.

Except for going through Kansas City where all the roads seemed to be under construction or had accidents it was an uneventful drive. Some pretty countryside and colors.

We are in the little town of Ottawa, KS at the Homewood RV park at exit 176 off the I-35. Gravel pull-throughs, 50 amp and good internet. Clear view of the satellite for our TV. And when we checked in they gave us a bag of freshly popped pop corn. YUM.

We stopped early today – 1:30 – Trying to do just short hops until we’re used to traveling again.

I started a knitting project last night. Just real easy knit 2, purl 2 leg warmers. Good thing they are “easy” I managed to screw them up a couple of times before I finally managed to get 4 rows done. Way out of practice I guess. 

Time to cook dinner so we can watch the NASCAR race tonight. 

Alfa is repaired.

Yesterday evening ended well. Watched my favorite Cup driver #18 get the pole for the race Saturday night. And our tummies were happy and full. If you ever get the chance eat at a Bandana’s BBQ – try their Sweet and Sour BBQ sauce. They seem to be mostly in Missouri. And the last two days [even with what’s been going on] Bill has felt so much better than the last couple of months. A silver lining.

A picture of yesterday’s drive time. At least we were at the very upper edge of the storm. And it is pretty much how it was all day today. 

Our view from our camping spot. Yes that is Willie parked by the fence, Bill hadn't moved him yet. 

And this is what is under our bed! Checking the altenator. 

Mechanic was taking out old alternator – and it was still raining. Is it ever going to stop raining in the Midwest this year?

Everything is now fixed and we’re staying another night here at Camping World – we could have left around noon but it is STILL raining so they said we could stay another night.

The problem was the alternator – it gave up. So we now have a new one. Big excitement for the day a WalMart run for lettuce and night lite. For awhile we lost Direct TV so much cloud cover. It finally came back on but some of the channels are still spotty.

Tomorrow morning we’ll head out again probably ending up somewhere south west of Kansas City. The weather looks like it might not be too bad.  I hope, I hope! 

The mirror jinx - struck again.

Woke up to heavy rain and thunder and lightening. And it looks like it will last most of the day. It is coming from the south west and moving right over us. So will just hunker in and enjoy being close.

I was thinking about the mirror breaking just before we left home. Isn’t that supposed to bring bad luck? But we didn’t break it – Mother Nature did. So it will be her bad 7 years right?

Well maybe not. We had somewhat of a problem last night. I plugged the little heater in and Poof – the power went out. Hum this park has good 50amp service. Also it sounded like a telephone was ringing somewhere under the motorhome. Bill stood up and listened – then headed for the door. Ever helpful me said, “That’s not our phones ringing, where are you going?” He gave me an exasperated look and said, “It is a switch warning”. So he grabbed a flashlight and went out and reset the breaker. And looked in one of the under compartments where the inverter and the battery disconnect switch is located. Everything seemed fine so he came in. About a half hour later I went up towards the front to put the windshield shades down…and SMELLED something – not good – something was burning. Out he went again and sure enough the battery disconnect switch was smoldering and melting the plastic around it. OH NO!!!  He quickly disconnected everything – cooled down the metal ends and wrapped them in electricians tape. All of this was accompanied by much colorful language about the @#$! switches. Everything still works fine – so will have it looked at when we reach Vegas. He says he has left them open for 10 years and never had any problems but was told by a mechanic at the rv repair place to close them. Voila – I don’t understand their purpose – something about draining the batteries … so that was our excitement last night. Glad it wasn’t raining then.

We are getting way too many gadgets – and this isn’t all of them. My laptop and Nook. The MiFi, a WiFi extender (which I’m using now and it has boosted the signal from the parks WiFi by two bars). Two phones – who needs two phones – half the time I can’t answer either one. And the newest – the Tablet. And of course Bill has his PC and his own Nook. When something dings, rings or buzzes we have a devil of a time trying to figure out what needs attention.

Just had to share this picture – taken a couple of days before we left home. I passed by the door to the back and was startled to see that we had a lake view. Took a minute to realize what I was seeing. The entire valley below us was covered in fog – with a couple of darker clouds in the middle – looking like islands – then darker clouds in the far distance looking like hills on the other side of a lake. The picture doesn’t do it justice. 

Oh - and I forgot - the kitchen sink is not wanting to drain properly - just gurgle, gurgle - so going to try the boiling water method and if it still isn't working the vinegar and baking soda method.
P.S.

And the day continued to get better. Actually it did for a while. The rain stopped and the sky got quite a bit lighter. So we took off heading for Cuba, Mo. A little town south west of Saint Louis on the I-44.

As we were driving along I could see Bill checking and rechecking the instrument panel. So finally I got curious and asked if anything was wrong. I should have just ignored him. He told me that the batteries weren’t charging. That didn’t sound good. As we got closer to Saint Louis he said we’d better find an RV service facility. !!!  So using all that high tech stuff we have I asked for RV service facilities. None. Except one in Iowa. So I continued to fuss asking the question in different ways. Still nothing. But finally – Camping World.  And it didn't say they had service. So called them. Yes they had service. Then the tech asked me where we were headed - I said the south west. So he suggested we stay on our planned route and head to Strafford on the I-44. It was further but we'd be headed where we were going. They were in Columbia, Mo 130 miles away on the I-70. We decided to head there as it was closer. Luckily we were on the 270 which runs into the 70 so we headed there. And of course the weather got worse, rain harder and visibility 20 feet – while we were driving in the metropolitan area with lots of traffic. We were lucky though as the worse part of the storm was south of us and if we’d continued on to the I-44 we would have been right in the middle of it.

The rain let up [did pass two accidents – overturned semi and a small car that spun through the grass – people need to slow down in the rain.] Eventually we found the Camping World with no problem – except the GPS told us to turn left and we could see it on our right so we ignored her and she got upset. Bill stopped in the parking lot and I went inside to get a service person. They came out and told us to drive around to the back where there were overnight parking pads. Just as we drove through the gate into the back – everything quit working. Poof!. All instruments shut down, no gears, no reverse, no anything.  The engine kept running in 3rd and the steering worked - as we had to drive around the building again to get into a parking spot where we could plug in. Once Bill shut it off it wouldn’t restart. So here we are for the night. 
Need an alternator for sure - plus the problem from last night needs to be fixed. 
At least we don't have to pay for parking - just $110 per hour!
Went out to dinner at Bandana's BBQ - very very good. Now to watch NASCAR qualifying.