And the current journey continues.....

We want to once again thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for my Mom, Dorothy. As of this writing, she is still in the hospital. After the latest CAT SCAN, the Cardiologist brought in a Lung Specialist and he has been running tests the last couple days. There is a lot of scaring on her lungs and this specialist is thinking there is alot more going on than just the blood clots. It appears that she will be on oxygen all the time for the rest of her life. Her goal for now is to get her strength back so she can prove she can go home! The doctors aren't so sure that is the right thing for now. Each day we learn a little more, so it looks like it will be slow going. Your continued prayers and well-wishes are very much appreciated by her and all of us - her children and family.


Now, back to our "problems" (they really don't seem so bad after what my Mom is going thru!). As it turns out, our satellite did not "die" as I stated last time. Andy took the receiver apart to verify that we had not blown a fuse. There was absolutely no power being recognized by the receiver - hooked up or not. We both racked our brains for a while and somewhere within the deep recesses we remembered that we had a similar problem several years ago. The fix for that time was to replace the A/B Switch we have installed to select between the roof antenna and the dish on the ground tri-pod. Fortunately, we had a spare A/B Switch and after replacing it with the one that was installed - miracle of miracles ....... everything worked just like it usually does!!!! We could not believe it. Andy tested the old A/B Switch and it was just fine - so it will just have to remain a mystery for now. It does not make any sence at all why replacing the A/B Switch should then allow power to get to the receiver. In any case we are again watching TV and we are happy campers. The power came back on in the RV park and then we were blessed with this beautiful sunset - life is once again good.



This morning we once again hit the road - still heading North. We refueled at the Flying J at Fraizer Park CA - and almost had to call the paramedics to revive us!!! What a shock!!!! We took about 81 gallons of diesel at a discounted price of $4.89 a gallon --- for a grand total of $397.92....... time to make a stop at the bank for the loan???? Unfortunately, this fuel won't take us all that far - but when you take your whole home with you what can you expect!




We arrived at our stopping point for this night - Harris Ranch at exit 334 of I-5. This is one of our favorite overnight stopping places. For more information of all that is here check out http://www.harrisranch.com/ .We had a chance to make a quick trip to Lemoore Naval Air Station near here - and finally found the super-duper charger/starter that Gene used to rescue us the other day. Since we are so paranoid about the car starting now, we also got a different handy dandy battery boost thing we can use if we happen to be out and about and not be near any AC power supply when the car fails to start. Sounds like it might be time for a new toad, huh?


After returning from dinner at the Harris Ranch Restaurant, we discovered that once again it appears that our satelitte is a gonner! This is getting really boring to say the least. I was ready to switch the A/B Switch again when Andy said that maybe it was too hot. We have been in hot weather since we left San Diego - each day getting to the 100 mark. The receiver had power this time, but no picture was getting to the TV. Well - we started the generator and turned the air conditioner on ---- and slowly but surely a picture started to appear on the TV screen. After about 10 minutes we were back in business! We have known that we had a problem with it being too hot where the receiver is, but didn't connect it all together until this evening. At least we don't have to accept the mystery of the miracle of the A/B Switch (that just didn't make sense!).


Tomorrow we are back on the road again - traveling to the town of Corning CA. Hopefully it will not be as hot as it has been, but we won't hold our breath on that one. It has been really windy all day today, so maybe a better wish is for no wind tomorrow.


Take care all, and stay tuned for more excitement. See we may actually be educating you while we bore you with our travel drivel.... Thanks for tuning in!