Super 36

February 1, 2012 seems like a lifetime ago to me, and yet chronologically it is a mere 36 months in time.......a wonderful, life changing 36 months since we left on this nomadic journey.  When we first began rolling the wheels attached to our home each day, each week was a learning experience.  We thought we knew a lot......we had been RVing since 2004 after all.....what would possibly occur that we hadn't already experienced?  Answer.....A LOT!  We were just shy of 3 weeks into our journey when we arrived at the property of TLE's sister south of Tyler, TX.  We had just covered over 1,000 miles in two days.......here is what I wrote about that day....February 19th, 2012........"Deep In The Heart of Texas":

"Today, Sunday, we made good time and reached Bullard, TX around 3:30pm. The early start paid off, and we arrived with lots of daylight sill left in the sky! The drive from Mesa, AZ to Bullard, TX was completely without incident......UNTIL we parked the coach in my sister-in-law's driveway.....as I exited the coach after parking I smelled coolant....not a smell you want to greet you....I opened the driver side engine compartment door and saw coolant gushing out the back of the water pump for the engine! Apparently, just we we were parking an internal seal in the pump failed completely.....I quickly grabbed a 5 gallon bucket and opened the pet cock valve on the bottom of the radiator and drained the coolant below the level of the pump so it would no longer drain out there. I think I lost 5, or 6 gallons, but saved another 4 by draining the radiator as fast as I could. Tomorrow I will locate a replacement pump. We are so thankful this happened here, and not somewhere in the vast West Texas landscape 100's of miles from anywhere. If you've got to break down it's good to do it in your own driveway, or in the driveway of a relative! If we had taken more than the 2 days to get here who knows where we would be stranded, and how much it would have cost to get back on the road. Here I can do this myself. I have located a pump, and will replace it in the next couple of days."

We had just spent 12 days parked on a street in Mesa, AZ in front of my friend Tom McCloud's home fixing quite a few things with Tom's assistance and direction.  During that 12 days Tom encouraged me to believe in my ability to fix things.  Up to that point I was a little intimidated by the Newell, but he showed me it was not as complicated as I believed.  He was the first one I called when the water pump failed, and before I had finished draining down the coolant level he was back on the phone with me advising he had found a water pump on eBay for $89, and that I should check it out to be sure it was the same one I had.  Of course, if you go to the link provided and read my account, it was the correct pump, and I was able to remove the failed one, and install the new one successfully.  From that time on my confidence to deal  with mechanical issues on the Newell skyrocketed.

Our style of travel has evolved over three years, and continues to evolve, but we continue to gaze at the horizon and wonder what is next.......

Each year when we visit Tom and Darlene we usually go with them to church at least once, and this Sunday was such a day.  As always, we enjoyed the Sacrament Service, and while they attended their Sunday school classes we headed into Surprise to pick up a few things TLE would need to prepare snacks and dinner.......why?  Well.........Sunday was also the day of Super Bowl XLIX and there must be great snacks, and possibly dinner.....with a 4:30 pm start time, dinner was definitely in order.  

All I ever ask for on Super Bowl Sunday is that it be a competitive game that goes down to the last minute, and that is precisely what we got.  The game didn't end the way I wish it had, but in the end it was a great game to watch.  We watched the game in high definition on Tom's 80" LED TV with surround sound.  TLE made up a batch of guacamole to go along with her amazing salsa and the chips we picked up in Surprise, so Tom and I were in snack heaven.  Just after half time TLE brought out the Nathan hot dogs and chili she had lovingly prepared for dinner.  Speaking of  'Half Time', the 'Half Time' show featuring Katy Perry was completely underwhelming.....the words to the songs were completely unintelligible.  At any rate, I rarely watch the 'Half Time' show and this one only served to reconfirm why.

The new season of 'The Blacklist' began right after the Super Bowl postgame show.......as usual, it was great, and sort of helped to erase the pain remaining from the disappointing end to the Super Bowl.

Thanks for stopping by!