Oh the places they go

12/11/2017

Installing Slide Toppers – By Yourself (almost)


Cougar

October 11, 2014, Midland, Georgia

Bill realized the value of slide toppers when we had our Extra Lite 5th wheel. It seemed no matter where we “parked” it, the three slides were covered with leaves and/or other debris. He is a keen observer. He’d see what other people had on their RVs and what tools they used. One thing we quickly learned as new RV owners and avid travelers, you have to clean off your slide tops before you bring them in. Otherwise, you bring that debris into your RV and/or jam up the processes as they come in. We asked for an estimate to have them installed on our 5th wheel – the price was way too high. So Bill just bought a light-weight leaf blower someone else used as well as a 5′ lightweight ladder to climb up to blow the slide tops off before I brought them in. You’ll see the ladder he used to get up there in a later picture as he still uses it. Continue Reading

05/17/2017

2017 Summer Travels: Spartanburg, Cowpens and Generator Repair


Travel started in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Then to Dan Nicholas Park in North Carolina, to Cummins Atlantic, Spartanburg, South Carolina

Our trip from Dan Nichols County Park to our next stop was only 127 miles, about a two 1/2 hour drive for us since we also stopped for diesel fuel. We wanted to arrive early as our mission for this stop (Thursday, May 4, 2017) was for our generator be repaired.  We were headed to Freightliner in Gaffney, SC, but thankfully, my call ahead sent us down the road to Spartanburg.  They don’t seem to fix “broken” generators at Freightliner, only service them. What a miracle Atlantic Cummins, who does, was close by.

We traveled close to this area a few years ago. We spent a day with Bill’s cousin and her husband, who live near Charlotte, NC. We didn’t write a full blog post about our time there, but what a grand time they showed us by taking us to the Billy Graham museum and property.  Continue Reading

05/08/2017

2017 Summer Travels – Let’s Go!


Three out of four smiles is pretty good. See below for the one smile and three other goofy faces!

After the month of April, with our grandsons and their parents, it was time to hit the road!  Our grandsons are now just over 3 1/2 and 20 months old. It’s getting easier to leave – for me, but I am sure not so easy for our daughter. Our oldest grandson understood we’d be back. The baby, well, he’s still a baby to us!

We have a general idea about our summer travels. But first things first. Our generator went out on us at the start of our winter travels. We’ve only ever used it once in our two years of owning it. It is our “back up electricity” as I had to explain to my mom.  One cold night, a campground’s power went out for an hour or two – the Electric Company got it going again. About an hour later, the campground circuit breaker went out again for another hour. We were thankful we had our generator to stay warm!

While we were in Fredericksburg for the month, Bill did try to find someone to try to get it started to no avail. While he’s mechanical, he didn’t want to try to fix it. Reluctantly, he pulled out the manual, called Onan (the manufacturer), then went to the RV Geeks YouTube channel to figure a few things out. He managed to change the air and oil filters, which was not so easy since the manual used a pencil drawing, Onan wasn’t much more help, but the YouTube video helped. It still wouldn’t start, throwing an error code 36. Continue Reading

01/06/2016

2015 TumbleLees Blogging in Review


I saw another blogger, Christina, share her report and liked the idea! What I plan to do is focus on my most active commenters and encouragers to thank them and give them a shout out! The rest of the report is below and it is a bit interesting.

Vibrant – I just wrote about Anand on my personal blog, so won’t repeat…just visit that blog to see how this amazing man from India and I connected!
placestheygo – Pam and John, two retired teachers living the full-time RV dream, traveling, hiking and enjoying life to the fullest!
Wandering Dawgs – This couple calls themselves life-long Bull Dog fans! They don’t travel in their RV full time, but they sure have a lifetime of great traveling they have done!
Ingrid – She and her husband are also full-time RVers, living the full-time RV dream! Ingrid also has a personal blog with cooking tips and healthy recipes and she is one amazing photographer. They enjoy hiking as much as we do, too!
littlenuggetbignugget – this sweet mom, Jasmin, captured me as she counted down to the birth of her second little nugget! She caught my attention as I watched my own daughter doing the same.

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,300 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

09/22/2015

Awards awards awards!


WOW, we just didn’t realize so many people have recognized the heart of this blog. It shows that it is easy to lose track of comments from others.  We want to thank the following for nominating our blog for a few awards: Laci, Jasmin, Meggan, Saint P, and Vibrant (Anand)! I’m going to reply with a post to each over the next few days to keep this post at a manageable length.

It is so nice to be thought of in a special way, especially when going through some tough times.  We are off the road for about a month. We are re-blogging some other travel blogs of couples we have been “following” (and inspired by) since we began RVing (short for Recreational Vehicle traveling). But something has happened that made me decide to add to the focus of our Travel Adventure blog. It’s time to play it forward and share my new blogosphere experiences.

Quick history: When we began to dream about buying an RV and traveling, we found a few blogs which really inspired us. We began to follow them and realized we had much in common with them (our love for adventure and hiking)….so we have a special blogosphere “commenting” relationship! We’ve never met, but we could hang out around a fire pit and talk for hours, like old lost friends!  You will notice, we are re-blogging a few of their blogs. So I guess I won’t say much more, except they are amazing bloggers and adventure travelers – and have lots of “followers.” BTW, we are all retired and are in somewhat of the same station in life – so that helps with our commonality! Check out their sites: the Lowe’s, Ingrid & Al, Pam & John, and the Wandering Dawgs!

I realized I needed to enhance my (our) blogging, so I signed up in one WordPress Blogging University (BU) course, Blogging 101 in July (when we were again off the road). I only did about 1/2 of the course but met some wonderful bloggers. I then signed up to take it again the next month and enter a whole new world of fabulous bloggers with huge hearts!  In BU, you do learn to help and support each other, to read and comment on each other’s blogs, to help each other to find our ways in the blogosphere.

Thanks to Blabberwockying, authored by Anand, who is also known as Vibrant, I’ve been pushed over the edge to finally say, I’ll ACCEPT!!! Anand and I live in two totally different worlds, but we still have much in common. I can’t say enough good about him, except to say he is an amazing person.  And he has nominated us for three awards!

These awards are such an honor to receive. It means another blogger has seen the heart and soul of a fellow blogger and then nominates that person/blog to recognize the efforts put into the blog. I was not going to accept them on this blog because it didn’t “feel” appropriate since our focus narrow and to a specific audience (family and friends). I did accept one on my personal blog – the blog that really needs help to survive, but it is about my heart and soul!  A young man who I have very little in common with, except for the blogosphere, nominated me for that first award. I’ve become more or less a grandma to him (a major cheerleader for his work) and he in turn, has taken me under his wing to help me improve my actual blog look! What fun this has all been.

So now to go over my nominations. Because I have five, I am going to modify the rules a little. But first, let me thank each person as I draw you to the post that grabbed their attention to honor me:

In reverse order (to be determined), the latest award nomination, The Versatile Blogger Award nomination for our blog details are here.

Award Rules:

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy—if you can figure out how to do it.
Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers (I’m modifying to seven) that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
Nominate those 15 bloggers (or less) for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to the original site.
Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

7 Random Facts About Me (Bill is choosing to not participate):

  1. I’ve lived in three countries: USA, Germany, Japan
  2. I’ve traveled and/or worked in six countries: Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan
  3. I’ve had fabulous layovers in four countries: Tokyo (felt like home), London, Singapore, Abu Dhabi
  4. I can only speak English, but can talk gibberish with my sister.
  5. I have lived in seven USA states: Wyoming, Colorado, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Alabama, New Jersey, and Florida.
  6. I can’t count how many states I have traveled in. One day, I’ll try to count them. The goal is to drive our RV to all 49 states on our continent.
  7. I’m a wanderlust!

Definition borrowed from Wikipedia: The term originates from the German words wandern (to hike) and Lust (desire). The term wandern, frequently misused as a false friend, does in fact not mean “to wander”, but “to hike.” Placing the two words together, translated: “enjoyment of hiking”, although it is commonly described as an enjoyment of strolling, roaming about or wandering.

My Nominees…

I’ve selected these people because I see so much versatility in their blogs! I wish them continued success in their blogging and in their earthly existence!  Congratulations to each and it is your choice to participate. No hard feelings if you can’t accept, or don’t want to accept. But I do want you to know, I’m following you and look forward to watching your blog grow!!

  1.  Shine Positive Power! This young lady is amazing, encouraging, and so versatile with her posts.
  2. Just a bunch of Nuggets: Another young lady and blogging mom. We connected right away. I love nuggets!
  3. Oh, My Glai! When I think of versatile, this is the blog! Another young lady, and relatively new blogger that has so much to offer and share!
  4. Elihu’s Corner. This dad is a wonderful role model to his children and shares his timeless and Biblical principles that help all of us!
  5. See you starside. There are just certain bloggers with whom instantly click. This is another young lady that is doing all she can to create a very versatile and wonderful blog!
  6. Think Outside. Once you see this young man’s blog, you will know why we clicked. Another very versatile blogger and adventurer!
  7. Lydia and I also had an instant connection. She is also very versatile and has so much to offer!

There are a number of others I want to see recognized, so stay tuned as I catch up on our awards. Lots more to share!

You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are. –Max Lucado