Thursday, November 21, 2013

Cabin Fever

I am happy to say that today, Thursday, is our last day at "Camp Driveway" for a month or more. We will head out for San Diego, by way of Los Algodones, Mexico for a dental appointment. 

Not for me. I decided to pay my American dentist big bucks because I had a complicating root splinter that had to be removed by an Oral Surgeon. I have no reservations about going there for simple work, but mine required several weeks of healing before the new bridge could be fit. In the future, if we are spending several months in Arizona, I might consider work that would take several visits over a period of time, but that wouldn't work for us right now.  Craig's work is a one-visit procedure.  We figure two and a half days of hard driving will get us there on Sunday. Appointment on Monday, and then over to San Diego on Tuesday.

For most RVers it is called "hitch-itch" The desire to get moving to the next place.  I have to call it "cabin fever" because the Alfa feels so much like a permanent structure on our land.  We have had more small fights about irrelevant things lately than I would like. We are not perfect!




I get negative about the house selling and exaggerate gloomy thoughts. Craig hates it when I'm an Eeyore.





And, I get mad at him when he acts like another kind of equine, and I don't mean a horse! 

I usually start a kerfuffle by questioning his way of doing something. I can't seem to keep my big mouth shut! He has done so much around the house and Alfa, and I still nag and question him. 

I'm sure things will get better as soon as we are on the road.  We both do want to do this, and we both are being worn down by the stress of having the house on the market. 


Most of the time when we are traveling we work together very well as a team.
Sometimes around the house too!
Enough about that. 

It has been quite cold and rainy for the last two nights. 

We noticed one interesting (to us) thing. In light or moderate rain you can only hear it in the back of the coach. It has to be coming down quit hard to hear rain in the front.  We wonder if that is due to less insulation in the ceiling, although Craig says he could see lots of insulation when he replaced the vent above the bed.

[From Craig] Folks on the Alfa Yahoo Group convinced me that the roof is well-insulated everywhere, so that we can only hear large drops.  There's a big pine tree behind our coach that "aggregates" (my word of the day :-) little raindrops into big ones, so that we only hear most rain in the bedroom. 

The rain stopped this morning, so Craig got the tires, oil and batteries all checked for travel. I'm getting the wash done. 

The sanitary dump place opens at ten, and after we are finished there we will be heading SOUTH! 628 miles in two and  half days.

PDS? No, he would do it in much less time. 

On to a new subject: I want to share a needlepoint project that I did this month.  It is a 3-ring binder for my reservations and stuff that I keep next to the co-pilot seat.  It is a little taller than a regular binder so it is easier to get in and out of its slot. The narrow pocket on the top of the inside is for a pen.


I'm working on more panels like these, but I'm not sure what I will do with them.  I find the basic images on the web and draw them onto the canvas with a sharpie. 

[From Craig]  How did I manage to get all the way to retirement age without ever having owned or used a creeper? 



Actually, I was a bit proud of this achievement, but it is no more.  Our leveling jacks needed maintenance, and it went a lot easier with a creeper. I cleaned the inside column of the jacks with brake cleaner, then greased them.  I should probably go under again and wipe most of the grease off, so that it doesn't accumulate lots of dirt.



13 comments:

  1. How did I miss your birthday post? Well, anyway, Happy Birthday a bit late.

    We can identify with you and Craig when it comes to sitting still. Right now, there are times that John and I cannot do anything right...to suit the other person. It never happens when we are on the road and active. We are out of here Dec 8th, so you have a break sooner than John and I.

    Have a fun drive south.

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  2. I might have to look into one of those creepers. The older I get, the harder it is to get under the rig to service the levelers. I use steel wool and silicone spray. I'm not at all mechanical, but this is one of the things I can do. If I could just glide along from leveler to leveler that would be great.

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  3. I really think the stress of selling the house is adding to the little nagging things that bug you about each other. However, have said that, there are still times when I question Jim about what he's doing and why he's doing it that way. He's gotten pretty good at ignoring me very nicely. Thank goodness. Travel safe. We're headed for Algodones in January.

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  4. Yep. That's not even enough distance to get warmed up. ;c)

    Good luck on your trip, hope the Mexico dental work pays off for you.

    Don't worry, a little back and forth nit picking is normal, we've had some, too and I haven't been smothered with a pillow...yet!

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  5. I totally understand the "cabin fever/hitch itch". Hope you have a nice trip.

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  6. We had the same thing happen with Harry and I during our house sale process. We hardly ever argue, but the stress of the whole thing really got to us. When we had showings and the person didn't like this detail or that one, it really bothered Harry. We felt like nothing was ever going to happen with the sale and it was so discouraging. Then of course, in the course of one day it all turned around. I hope it turns for you very soon!!!

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  7. Enjoyed your post....
    Safe travels south.

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  8. When I find myself trying to nit-pik I usually come to the conclusion I am really mad at myself for not doing what I could be doing to make things better....like not exercising...eating crap food...being a slug. I give myself a good talking to!

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  9. With all the stress in your lives right now it is now wonder there is a bit of friction! You'll have a great time on your trip and get back to normal.

    Love the binder! Lucky you to have a place by your seat for something like that. We are all cramped in the truck.

    Have a safe and wonderful trip! Looking forward to hearing more about SanDeigo.

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  10. You sound a lot like us!! Only I call Russ Eyeore haha.

    Love that Kokopelli! You are so talented.

    Note to Craig: Better to use a creeper than to be one!! Nice picture.

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  11. The whole process of getting the house ready to sell, getting rid of stuff, and then waiting for the house to sell was one of the most stressful times in our lives. At the time, it seemed like it would never happen. But, it will. This too shall pass, and many wonderful adventures await. Hang in there you two!!

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  12. We are still waiting for a buyer for Mum's house. Right now we are in the process of changing Real Estate agents after 12 months very little interest.

    Nothing like selling property to strain relationships. I find it very stressful, especially when my heart wants to keep the house but we cannot afford to pay out other family owners.

    Hope your planned trip is fun in spite of the dental appointment kicking it off.

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