Arizona Home

(NOTE: View a larger picture by clicking on the photo(s) above.)

Update from last week: we fixed the Dish tripod situation by buying some tent pegs and tying it down with rope. As far as the water heater not working, the heater runs on both electric and gas, it was the electric not working, so we turned on the gas. To try and locate the problem with the electric, we checked the breakers and fuses, everything was fine. You know how it is, “if all else fails,” consult the manual. So we did and found the solution as simple as turning the switch off in the control panel and back on again. Duh! So, hot water again and saving on the gas. Speaking of gas, we have two 30 gallon propane tanks. We have been on the road now for almost seven months, we have cooked on the stove and baked in the oven, and we still have not run out of gas in the first tank. Good thing, because propane cost up to $2.90 per gallon. We save by using mostly electric, especially for heat. We have two very small heaters, one downstairs and one upstairs. Works fine for us and no extra cost.

The other problem with getting the Dish to work with the second TV in the bedroom has not yet been solved. To have “different” programming on the second TV will require another receiver, about $100. Getting it connected to the Dish is the hang-up. I have a video splitter that is suppose to do the transferring of the signal, but everyone I talk to says you must run a separate line from the Dish to the second TV. I say, that is what the video splitter is for. So, I call the Service Manager at the dealer where we purchased the RV and he sends me a diagram of how it is supposed to be hooked up with the video splitter. I think I know what is required, but I still need to get another receiver. We’ll see how that works later.

There is an affect with the weather that we call “the Parsons affect.” That is, if one wants the weather to be really different, just wait until the Parsons arrive. We went to Hawaii for the first time together (I had been many time by myself on business) back in 1982. We rented a ninth-floor condo for a ten day stay. Our first night there is when the hurricane (typhoon in the Pacific) struck. Trees down everywhere, roads closed, electricity gone, stores closed, no restaurants open and other assorted problems like no elevator to the ninth floor. To make a long story short, the electricity came back on the tenth day of our ten day visit. We tried again three years later. Yep, flood that time. I think we are on the “not allowed” list to Hawaii.

It seems that everywhere we go, the weather is “unusual” according to the locals and newscast. It is either warmer, colder, wetter, dryer, stormier, etc.. We have “never” (or so it seems) been anywhere that weather has been normal. Well folks, we are now in Arizona. Southern Arizona is suppose to be warm and sunny in the Winter. Guess what? It is warmer in Tennessee than it is here now. Normal here is in the upper 70’s with lows in the 60’s. Now it barely reaches 60 with lows in the upper 30’s to lower 40’s. The weather newscast speaks of 35 inches of snow in elevations above 5,000 feet. Luckily we are at only 735 feet. We came to the Southwest to get warmth and sunshine. We will wait for Winter to officially begin until we make a judgment. Today, however, the sun is shining brightly, but the temperature at Noon is only 53 degrees. I really hate that southern Arizona has to put up with “the Parsons affect.”

We went out Wednesday to stock-up on some needs and get more medicine refills. This time we headed to a new location, Casa Grande, about 55 miles east of Gila Bend. I have put a map of Arizona up so you can know where the places are in relation to where we are living. I’m sure you can locate Gila Bend on the map (you may have to "click" to enlarge the map), just southwest of Phoenix and west of Casa Grande. Casa Grande seems to be a nice town with most things one would need, but the road in. Wow! We have never seen so many cattle in one place, thousands, and the smell! These cattle are not on the open range, but in large, grassless pens for miles. I am sure you can figure out the smell, even if we don’t have a “scratch-and-sniff” panel for you. Fortunately the smell doesn’t reach all the way into the city itself.

I am going to close this “ramble” for now. Since we will not be doing a lot of traveling during the Winter, we will have to share other experiences with you. We will have discussions with you, but you can rest assured that it will not be about religion or politics. Everything else is fair game!