Front Porch

I only have a week left here at my homebase and I still have several projects to complete before I’m “scheduled” to leave town. Yes I said the nasty word “scheduled” I know, I’m retired and shouldn’t have to be on a schedule. As much as I try, I just can’t get away from making reservations when they are available. I feel much more comfortable knowing there is a spot for us when we arrive at the next camp.

Most government campgrounds charge a small fee when making reservations. It’s not much, five dollars is pretty typical. Of course if you stay at RV Parks or Resorts there is no fee, but the daily fees are much higher, almost without exception. I’ve noticed over the last three and a half years, since I have been watching, the daily fees have gone up almost everywhere around 10 to 20%. If it continues at that rate my traveling days will come to a halt in a few short years. For now I am using a mix of different campground types which include boondocking or dry camping.

I not sure if it’s just me or maybe I don’t have the experience over time, but the National Forests seem to have gone up the most, that is percentage wise. I think it’s due to the management contracts they have been making with concessionaires. They are still much cheaper than private parks, but many have gone from eight to ten dollars, up to twenty. The good news is some of that money is going into repairs and upgrades to the parks infrastructure. You still can’t beat the National Forests and BLM Land for space. Most RV Parks are nice, but sites are very cramped.

Jagger Enjoying Freedom On The Front Yard

Final Week Preparations

I am feeling as if I accomplished many tasks here at my home in Montana in just a month. Today Bob and I (mostly Bob) are doing some repairs to the slide frame molding. There seems to be a design flaw. When the kitchen slide is brought all the way in, the decorative molding hits the molding over the entertainment center cabinets on the back wall as the coach moves down the road.

The end cap fell off about six months ago after breaking in half. Bob used some wood glue that I had picked up at a local Ace Hardware store. I like going to the smaller Ace stores, There’s at least someone to give you advice on projects like this one. After filing the piece down, adding a brace and gluing it together, he placed it in a vice overnight.

The next morning we got out the compressor, nail gun and a few other tools and went over to the Coach. Inside, Bob used a hacksaw and file to cut a niche out of the backing material to create a clearance space for movement of the slide. Once ready the decorative cap was attached using the nail gun. It came out very nice. You can just barely see the crack where the piece was glued back together.

Visiting Our Mentor

A trip to our home wouldn’t be complete without a visit with my dog training mentor, Jewel of The Joyful Animal. She worked with Jagger the first year we visited Montana, just after we started traveling together.

Jagger on Graduation Day

Jagger, although still needing work (and so do I), is much better than when we started our relationship together. I’ll never know why he became dog aggressive. In the beginning it was unbearable for us both. You can read about all the details to date here: Aggression. Quite frankly I think the problem was and still is ME!

Jagger and I just visited Jewel for short time at her training yard. A place where Jagger is very comfortable. We both enjoyed every minute of it. Jewel is so patient with him. She remarked how well he was doing. He has learned all of his major commands and I can recall him quite easily, even in the forest.

After our visit we say goodbye and return to our home for another relaxing evening.

Safe travels…Gary