A Valued Business Relationship - NOT!

I got a check in the mail today, from a company (Company A) whose online catalog I have enjoyed browsing, and from whom I have happily ordered. It was a check for $8.25.
The explanation along with it was that they "valued our relationship" - and therefore had asked an unaffiliated company (Company B) to attempt to rip me off.
OK, that's not exactly the way they put it, but that's what it is.
If I were to cash the check without reading - or perhaps understanding - the information on the back of the page, doing so would enroll me as a member of said unaffiliated company B, for $15 a month for which they would debit my card on file with Company A. The fine print gives permission for Company A to "securely" transfer my information to Company B. And for Company B to debit my card monthly for the $14.99 or the then current rate (wild card!) unless I CALL them to cancel.
For this $160/year, I become eligible to receive 2% refund on all my credit card purchases up to $5,000. Cool - I can get $100 back, if I spend $5,000 on a credit card - if I pay $160 a year for the privelege??? I can do that math! Oh, and get this: it doesn't happen automatically. After a year of membership, you have to gather up all your credit card receipts and send them in. You have a full 90 days to do it. Then they have even more of your information. If you remember to send it in. If they are even still in business by then.

I think if Company A "valued our relationship" they would not have sic'd Company B on me.

Handling Cold Weather

With all this "global warming" going around, even people in Texas want to know how to stay warm. I wish I WERE in Texas. Cold here in Virginia constitutes sub-freezing weather.
Each winter before that happens, I let the fresh water tank get empty and drain the hot water heater. I use gallon jugs until I'm sure we've had the last hard freeze, because I hate fixing plumbing. Then I don't have to run the furnace when I'm not home, or asleep, just to keep the pipes warm. This makes my batteries last enough longer to be worth the aggravation.
When I have shore power, I preheat the bed with the electric blanket under the bottom sheet. 2 layers of feather comforter over top will keep you warm in most coldness. If it gets cold enough out I'll hook up the portable generator to do the electric blanket thing, but normally I wouldn't go to that much trouble because I wouldn't want to go out to turn it off. Hot water bottles work well for pre-heating cold beds, too.
Another winter comfort trick is, since the bathroom warms up the fastest and gets the warmest, I hang my pj's and tomorrow's clothes in the bathroom. I turn the heat on a bit before I get up in the morning, and by the time it's warm enough to get out of bed I have warm comfy clothes to put on.
While I seek shade in the summer, this time of year I look for sunny spots and try to park so my curb side faces south. Then I have solar heat through the big living room window.
I have a Mr. Heater for supplemental heat, which uses the one pound propane tanks. It's great for not using battery power, and for that "sitting by the fireplace" feeling. Someone tell me why Food Lion charges twice as much as Wal*Mart for those tanks??? I also have a little electric heater on board, but I rarely use it because so many places I plug in, it's too much for the incoming circuit.

I do not have any tricks to make cold stiff electric hookup cords cooperate, though.

Today's Yard Dec. 19th

It's STILL snowing. First the new-to-me van had mud. Now, snow. Why am I not far south???

Today's Yard 12/19/09

Snow. I'm at the home base and wondering why am I not in, like, South Texas. Of course, I know why: I'm addicted to paychecks. I'm just glad I don't need to drive in it. No working Christmas Week. I can stay put & stay warm.

Today's Yard, December 14 2009

Up by the Chamber of Commerce, the old train depot, overlooking Altavista, VA. This is the first warm sunny weather I've seen in a while.
I used to have a job in this town, working nights, and friends and I would walk in the mornings after work at the park in this picture.
Now I'm finished with today's work and headed to NC for tomorrow's. Holiday shopping's done. When this work week is over, I'll decorate the motorhome.

Before

This is my new-to-me van before its bath. The former owner lived up a long dirt road.
Now I can haul my Rendezvous gear, a tipi (next on my wish list), my canoe... Even a travel trailer if I ever want to do that. (Not as long as I have the Escaper.)
I have really missed having a van, so i'm really excited. Off to DMV I go...

Today's Yard, November 16

The rain's gone; the sky is blue & clear.
It's break time and warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the weather. Life is good.
This Food Lion just received their shipment of Christmas Trees. Already. Here's where I come out as an old fogey. Can't we wait 'til after Thanksgiving? Sufficient unto the month are the holidays thereof? If we're focused on Christmas now, what about Thanksgiving? Did we observe Veteran's Day with full attention, or were we planning turkey dinners already? Be Here Now or you miss something. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.

Today's Yard, 11/10/09

It's raining, it's pouring,
and I've been ignoring
Paperwork that grows in piles
Which should be put in trash or files.
No hiking trips for me today,
I'll make the piles go away.

I'm parked in Danville, VA, getting rid of accumulated paperwork, taking a break to enjoy the fall colors out the window through the rain and the warmth of my pseudo-fireplace, Mr. Heater. It's a good day to curl up with a good book and I intend to do so right after the last pile goes poof.

Today's Yard Oct. 28

Working near a friend and fellow buckskinner means dinner around a campfire in her back yard. Puts the world back in proper order.

Today's Yard, October 28

While I was at Rendezvous, FALL came to Charlottesville VA. That's where I'm working this week. I especially like Charlottesville area assignments because my friend Sue lives near here so we get to visit.
I am parked only a few miles from Monticello. Thomas Jefferson's estate. If you're ever in this area, do visit it!

Rendezvous!

The weather was perfectly glorious for the Fall OVPR. Good to see everyone. The weekend went waaay too quickly. More later...

Bathroom = Bottomless To-Do List

I got the new faucet installed in the bathroom, fixed the light switch, replaced some cabinet hardware - then noticed the medicine cabinet was tilted: hanging by ONE screw. More chores.
I thought it might be an opportunity to get a nicer cabinet.
I went online - would you believe you can spend $784.99 on a medicine cabinet??? Not in MY lunch money!
Lowe's, on the other hand, is much more reasonable. I went there to look in person. The one I like is $50, a 3-door 24x24 oak-finished one - but it's a little bit heavier than the one I want to get rid of. I'm going to think about it some. And check the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. And the weekend's yard sales.
There's a really good chance I'll sand the rusty shelves in the old one, paint it, and put it up with wall anchors. Would you believe, it was NOT put up with wall anchors - just screws, right into the paneling - which has no studs behind it. I'm amazed it was still up there. It is a motor home, after all. Bouncing down the roads on a regular basis.
At least, everything ELSE in there is in working order now.

My new faucet!

I had an unexpectedly short day of work and found some Round Tuits. Two broken cabinet door latches are replaced, and my new faucet is installed. (Thanks, Danny!) The old one, a traditional lavatory faucet, sat at a bad angle. When anyone washed their hands, the counter got splashed. This faucet, you can wash hands under and the water goes in the sink where it belongs. A chronic minor irritant is GONE! Yay.

Rennaissance

The rendezvous is over and I'm back where my phone can post. My good camera died so I'm hoping friends will send me good pics from the 'vous. If so I'll post them. After the 'vous I stopped off in Maryland to visit Peter & Karen. Peter & I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Both of us have worked at the fair in the past; it was interesting to go just as public.

Rendezvous

I'm getting a lesson in flint knapping here. While I may never become a proficient arrow head knapper, I can make some seriously sharp cutting tools for cutting leather. And it's fun.

Rendezvous

I was having supper with some friends when this pipe player stopped by to explain about the pipes to my friends' sons.

Rendezvous!

What do you do when it rains at rendezvous? Get wet. Coffee's on the fire. Like me, my neighbors are making breakfast and doing camp chores as was done in the 1700's. It's too wet to set out the trade blankets or wander around much, but it's supposed to clear off soon. This afternoon i'll go to a workshop on brain-tanning. While I haven't done any hides myself in a long time, I certainly haven't lost interest. Then I'll have company over for dinner. Then go do music around a campfire... Life is good.

Rendezvous!

Well, almost. I stopped 2/3 of the way there to visit Buckskinner friends Chris & Pat, who can't get the time off to go this year. They've got their marquee up in the yard. To make Rendezvous last longer, visit rendezvous friends en route.
I spent the night there, drove the rest of the way supplied with Pat's amazingly yummy tiny tomatoes for road food, and got to camp around lunchtime.

Today's Yard Sept. 19

Wow - I'm home. I usually get here more often than I have recently. My non-traveling cat Scamper even admits she's glad to see me.
A mountain of mail to go through. Trips to the mechanic . Visits with friends. Summer clothes to take out of the rig, fall clothes & warm fuzzies & Mr. Heater to put in. Preparations to make for the Eastern Rendezvous.
I worked near home last week and will again this week, commuting by car. This is good: I can prepare for the Rendezvous without missing work, and take the time AFTER, to recover. The jet lag from fast-forwarding 200 years is - well, it's hard to go directly back to work.
Saturday: crisp but still pleasantly warm. The first hint of fall, the seeds of October. Riding weather.

We're making beads!

Like I need another hobby! We're making lampwork beads. You melt the end of a glass rod and wrap it around a mandrill (sp?). Doesn't look like it takes up much space. Much more portable than the stained glass I used to do - and I can make my own focal beads. Time to shop for supplies.

Today's Yard Sept. 12 2009

"Up at dawn, to greet the sun. I've forgotten what a care or worry means."
I actually had to wait an hour for enough light to take this picture. We had a nice dinner & campfire last night. After my folks left for their climate controlled, wheelless homes, I put everything away, washed dishes, watched the fire dwindle in the peace of the night.
Saturday dawns clear and bright. The peace of the woods meets the anticipation of a wond'rous array of things to do. Music to play, Spanish to learn, trails to hike both literally and otherwise, Later today, friends & family to visit, new people to meet, lampwork beads to learn to make. Cats to cuddle.
Life is good!

Today's Yard, Sept. 11 2009

The tail end of a dinner party Gypsy Jane style. Got off work, bought groceries, set up camp at McDowell Nature Preserve south of Charlotte NC. Nice pull-thru campsite. I had my daughter, son in law, his folks, and of course the grandbaby, over for dinner so there was lots of cooking, & the good china. And a campfire made of my old broken leveling boards. I'd had some of them longer than I've had this motor home and they burned really well. We had lots of fun and the dishwashing can wait.

Truth in Advertising - Alternative HFCS ad from the folks over at Pay Now Live Later

Today's Yard 9/4

Today's yard is gonna wait: it's Friday. Friday is cleaning day in the Escaper and it's a chore I can't escape.
My new leveling blocks are neatly stowed in the compartment and on the scooter rack. I need to find a temporary spot for the old broken ones which will become firewood at my next campground.
My stove area got a good scrubbing, right down to the spice jar lids and the burners that never get used: the ones in back.
That slightly battered Revere Ware whistling teapot was the very first piece of kitchen stuff I bought for my very first motor home back in 1995. It has served me well despite numerous unplanned trips to the floor.
Yes, two of the stove knobs are missing. They were carefully put away one day after I turned a back burner on by mistake and cooked the nonslip mat on the stove cover and whatever was sitting on it. I don't ever want to do that again, and with the knobs hidden away no one ever will.
OK Gypsy, enough blogging, go back to cleaning.

Today's Yard, August 31

It's about as scenic as the rainy grey day it is. But it is a potential budget breaker. That's a Japanese grill & sushi bar right here in the parking lot with me. I love sushi. I just don't like PAYING for sushi. We'll see how long I can resist. It helps that younger daughter and I went to sushi buffet yesterday for lunch and ate all we could eat. I might hold out 'til Thursday.

Today's Yard August 28

Friday Morning, peace surrounds me. Kings Mountain State Park campground fills up over the weekend but few are here now and they are apparently still sleeping. From my picnic table I can only see one rig: the camp host. Another is behind me, across the road. A scattering of others out of sight.
The weekend is well begun: email's caught up, I've been for a walk & a scoot ride and the new song is down to the minor tweaking stage. It's a genre I never thought i'd write in, musically, but I don't really create songs. More like I give birth to them. So this 59 year old woman gives birth to a rap tune - what's up with that? Not that any gangsta would rap these lyrics.
30 years ago I was giving birth for real - Today is my younger daughter's birthday. I'm blessed with assignments near her all month so later today I'll go there and we'll celebrate.
Life is good. May there be a road!

Today's Yard, August 27

Same park, different day/site. No problem this time- I could have been level without wood if I'd left the awning rolled up. But there was a tree and pulling forward meant I needed one little board.
Did I mention that last weekend the few boards I had left over were picked up for firewood? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't think of taking wood from an occupied campsite. Probably kids. I should have put it away when I finished leveling.
Anyway, this time the setting up was easy and it's time to kick back and enjoy life... edit the Song In Progress, clean house, grill food, walk the loop, hunt up some small firewood to go with the logs someone left in the site when they left.

Today's Yard, August 24

I lucked out - I have a nice big 'yard' this week at work, with a big shade tree for aftenoon shade. Works for me :)
Now that work's done for the day, I'm sitting in the doorway sipping SodaStream soda and watching the shoppers - and the medium sized mantid that scooted up the tree a moment ago. Just enjoying the good weather and wishing it were not bad manners to grill in the parking lot.

Today's Yard, August 20 pm

Gypsy's Rule #3: Pick out a campsite first, THEN go register. I didn't. So they assigned me site 2 at Kings Mountain State Park. I didn't feel all warm and fuzzy about it when I saw it, so I drove the loop hoping to find one to swap for. Found a lovely level pull-through - and it was reserved for tomorrow night. Tried a few others. Tomorrow night this is going to be a happenin' place. Finally I gave up and settled down on site 2. Took a long time and all the wood I carry to get level, and taking the scoot off will be a real challenge. I didn't take it off before because if I couldn't get level I was not staying. Now I'm set up and it's a beautiful day to ride...

Today's Yard August 21

Parked in front of daughter's house in SC, a feat which requires lots of leveling wood. Visiting & doing chores that require internet, then off to shady state park later today.
This was actually the yard for most of the past week, as the store I worked at was only 10 miles from her house. I got to have dinners with her and see my grandson, and even glimpse my son-in-law occasionally - he's working LOTS of hours. I love it when work schedules me to be near kids and friends - I know from experience that I wouldn't see them nearly as often if I had a stationary job somewhere 2-300 miles away.

Today's Yard August 14 2009

Now that's more like it: sunny, cool, and not a supermarket in sight. Friday is cleaning day in the Escaper. I am motivated to do it quickly and get back outside.
Gypsy Jane's Rule #1: while coffee is brewing, make the rig drivable - even if you don't plan to drive. You never know when tumbleweed fever will strike.
I'd love to say I always do that! It's a goal, OK?

Today's Yard, August 13th 2009

After a week in hot humid shadeless West Columbia SC, I'm enjoying a shady campsite across from the lake at Chester State Park, where there's a pleasant breeze.
It's a peaceful spot where I intend to reflect upon a life-changing event in my life 10 years ago today.

Today's Yard, 8/4

Or thereabouts. I took this pic last week & forgot to post it. I had LOTS of afternoon shade. Not this week, though. It is SO hot and I really wish for a parking spot like that now.

Today's Yard, August 3

I figure if it's a convenient walk from where I park, it's part of my yard. This community park is less than a mile and a nice reward for getting exercise. After all, I could have driven 2 miles in the other direction to Panera Bread and indulged my Facebook addiction.
When my daughter visited last week she said she couldn't live in such a small space as my motorhome. I told her I don't. I don't live in that small space: mostly I live out here, in the infinite and ever-changing yard.

Today's yard Aug 2

Goodbye Izaac Walton, 'til next time. I spent the weekend here, as did my friend Sue. We shot archery, took my canoe blackberry hunting, swam, ate...
This morning we broke camp in a steady gentle rain. Cleanup, water chores, dump and drive. Need to be down in NC tonight for work tomorrow. I do love and appreciate my job but it just doesn't compare favorably with a weekend at the lake with friends. And I know I'll not be back here before Labor Day.
Ah but it was fun!

Today's yard July 28

I had a visitor today.

Today's yard, July 27

At work again of course. In most of the parking lot, I'd need railroad jacks to get level, but around the side I found a possible spot - and a shade tree. The perennial search for level shady ground!

Today's Yard July 25

My elder daugter & her SO came out to Izaak Walton to help me celebrate my birthday, so I got out the good china. Seriously: it was my great-grandmother's. I have Corelle to rattle around for every day use, but special occasions call for the good stuff. In preparation for their arrival I rearranged the cabinets so the good china storage bins will be more accessable and got rid of about a cabinet full of miscellaneous kitchen stuff I really don't ever use. We ate, we shot, we swam, and a good time was had by all.

Today's Yard, July 24

Instead of posting yesterday, I drove home from NC and took the motorhome to the shop. I got lucky: they had a used spring to fit my awning! So it is once again functional. I really missed it after the spring broke last month.
So I'm at Izaak Walton in my favorite campsite, about to feed a friend some dinner.

Today's Yard, July 20

At work. So the yard for today is the yard for the week. Obviously, some job-site parking is better than other job-site parking. This one, in a still - mostly - unrented newish shopping plaza, gets points for peacefulness and for trees. And I found the one level parking space in the whole lot. Life is good.

Today's Yard, July 19 2009

Waiting for laundry to dry on the back porch of the laundry room / bathhouse, with sun, shade, rocking chairs. How come the last three weekends, when I had free laundry at my kid's house, I only had one load - this weekend I have THREE. I NEVER have THREE loads!?!
Having just finished a book - if you get a chance, read Name of the Wind - I brought some magazines down. Then again, I might just sit & listen to the birds.

Today's Yard, July 18th

No, I didn't move the motorhome. This is a view from the canoe. This park has 3 paddle boats and a canoe available for campers to use on the pond. Not one to miss an opportunity to go canoeing, I made a beeline for the water right after lunch.

If you always stay in your comfort zone, it shrinks and strangles you like a boa constrictor. So, although I am not now, nor have I ever been, a dancer, I attended a dancing class this afternoon and now have a basic understanding of the Electric Slide, the Hustle, and the Macarena, and a screaming sciatic nerve. Time to hang like a bat!

Today's Yard, July 17 2009

Sycamore Lodge, in NC.
I was SO glad to see the pool, after driving up from Santee for 3 hours. This is a private membership campground. I'm here this weekend to take their tour.
The internet access is in the Members' Lodge which is a turn of the (previous) century log lodge, made of huge logs harvested from the land the campground is on. It is large, well-preserved, well-appointed, and comfortable. There's the pool, and a jacuzzi, and a lake complete with boats... A pavillion for entertainment, a game room, another - multi-purpose room? - horseshoes, miniature golf - a doggie park - a playground for kids.
It's a family oriented campground, with lots of kids about and so far they all seem happy and well-behaved.
Life is good.

Oh, yes - the strange contraption in my yard is an INVERSION TABLE. I hang upside down and let gravity be my portable chiropractor. It's great. It really helps. Which is why I allow it to take up space in the motorhome. I want my next motorhome to be a toy hauler so I have room to set it up inside.

Today's Yard, July 16, 2009

Camped at the Cypress View campground at Santee State Park, during one deluge of a storm. The white spots in the picture are not poor photography, they are raindrops. The thunder was constant and the wind was a'whipping. But it didn't last very long. Water was several inches deep but drained away quickly.

Today's Yard, July 15, 2009

Same park, different spot.
This is over by the park office, which has WiFi. Nearby are the cabins (which are octagonal), boat access, store, playground. This part of the park has the Cypress View campground also. There is another campground in the other part of the park, where 7/14's picture was taken.

Today's Yard, July 14, 2009

This is my back yard today. Santee State Park, Santee, SC.
Cool breeze off Lake Marion. Picnic tables overlooking the lake. Shade. And a different yard tomorrow. Wonder why I love RVing?

I'm so glad I bought a generator.

I've never had a generator before. This spring - OK, it was still winter - I bought a Honda portable generator. Right now I'm Really Really glad I did. It's been kind of nice to be able to have AC power during the week when I want, use the computer more, not worry about the fans wearing down the batteries, that sort of thing. Definitely a luxury item, though, as I've been doing fine without one since 1995.
Then I had some work done on the engine. The kind of work that involved removing the motor. Apparently, when everything was put back together, someone missed the extra wire coming from the alternator to charge the house system. Not that I blame them. My mechanic's not an RV'er. Most people are TOTALLY unfamiliar with such things as coach batteries, battery isolators, converter boxes.

I have 3 good house batteries, so I can run unplugged for a pretty long time. Using the generator occasionally and plugging in on weekends, I did not even notice until last week that my batteries didn't seem to be holding up so well. But I spent 2 weekends in a row visiting my daughter and not plugged in. The second weekend, when I parked, my lights seemed dimmer. My battery gage read Fair, not Good as I would have expected. I'd just driven quite a ways. What's going on?

In the morning I used the generator to charge the batteries directly. After the weekend, I drove back to Greensboro for work. Soon, the gage was reading Poor. I ran the generator whenever I was home. Wednesday I went to AutoZone and removed my batteries for charging and checking. They were fine. They should be, they were less than a year old. I then checked what I should have checked earlier - hindsight is great, yes? I checked the gage with the engine running. Normally it would show charging. It didn't.

OK, now I know what the problem is, but it will be a while before I am back where the mechanic is. Having someone else fix it at $80/hour or so? I don't think so. I'll wait. But I'm really glad I had a generator, and I'll be using it a lot in the next few weeks.

SodaStream! One of my favorite toys.

This past winter I bought a SodaStream from Soda Club USA. It's a kitchen appliance that makes carbonated water, so you can make your own sodas. They are delicious, whether you use their concentrates or Real Fruit Juice of your choice. Besides being a way to make your own healthy sodas - I wrote all about that on my sister blog Sweet Enough Already - it's a major space saver in an RV. I've given a few as gifts and the people I gave them to love theirs as much as I love mine. Check it out!

Excellent Spring Weekend

Sometimes everything goes right. I finished work with energy left over, as our projects this week were light. The last store we did put me in Kenansville NC for 2 days. Right down the road from a park, a restored historical house, and a really nice little museum.

So Wednesday after work I went to the restored historical house, Liberty Hall. I watched the background movie, and was joined by 3 other ladies for the tour.
When we'd finished, we looked around at the outbuildings connected to the Cowen Museum. After a bit it occurred to me that since the buildings were still open, there might be someone still in the museum itself. I knocked, and sure enough, Ms. Cowan was vacuuming and let me come in and look around. She showed me lots of the cool things that were there before she finished cleaning and locked up. Then I parked at the park, ran my generator, recharged my camera as I'd gone through both batteries.



Thursday I returned to the museum to see the rest of it. It was a really nice collection and Ms. Cowan a fountain of information.
Then I drove to the campground I'd picked for the weekend - Neuseway Nature Center and Campground in Kinston.

For $10/night I expected something that looked rather like a small crowded trailer park. Nope: This is a small well-kept campground along the river, with full hookups recently installed and in excellent condition. I took the last open riverside site and it was perfect. A large class A motorhome between me and the bright night light. No one home in the campsite next door. Fire ring with wood from a previous occupant. Perfect weather. A nature center with live and taxidermized (Is that a word? It should be.) critters. A planetarium. Excellent fireworks display in town, clearly visible on Thursday night from my campsite. Friendly fellow campers to enjoy the weekend with.
I decided to dump all the productive "shoulds" and just enjoy it, and gee whiz, I'm actually being more productive after work this week.

Boondocker's Coffeemaker

I broke my beloved Melitta coffee carafe. You know, the kind that takes #6 cone filters & makes 10 cups of drip coffee without benefit of electricity? As it had been quite a while since I'd had that particular variety of klutz-attack, I was quite surprised to find these are no longer readily available in stores. I bought the one I broke years ago at the supermarket, so that was the first place I looked. Nope, and not WalMart, KMart or Target either. A friend nicely gifted me with a still-available single cup version, with a really neat cup. But my search continued.
I did find it on line, though, at ACE HARDWARE, and ordered one. It came today and water is boiling for coffee. YAY!
So what's up with the retail assumption that we all have lots of counter space to spare and can't pour water???

Spring?

I'm visiting friends in North Carolina. Yesterday we were playing music on the deck and these blooms were buds. Today they're beginning to bloom. I'm wearing a teeshirt outdoors - when just a few days ago it was jacket, scarf, hat and gloves. I like this lots better, and hope it stays. Although - I'l be heading back to Virginia Thursday and the almanac predicts snow there throughout March. I will soak up today's sunshine though.
Oh - the tee says
"Humans were meant to live in a pack
So each could scratch the other's back
or wash it clean, and that's why each
Of us has spots we cannot reach."

Going Nowhere

Another motorhome is in the parking lot with me! A couple who do the same work I do and also travel by motorhome. We don't normally do the same stores, so I was very glad of the reunion.
This pic is what I woke up to, so I don't know if the rest of the team will come. It could be good for a day off.

Visited States Map

Julie asked me where I got the map. Darned if I could remember. I might have got it at one of these sites:
http://www.visitedstatesmap.com/ and http://www.epgsoft.com/VisitedStatesMap/ have the US map - and territories...

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/TravelMap/ has a create and export map of the WORLD, in case you're itinerary's wider than mine!

This is Global Warming??

Is it just me, or is this the coldest winter we've had in a long time? I'm so glad to have my 3 good new house batteries :) and to be parked weekends where I can plug in and run the electric blanket.
It warmed up a little Christmas week, then turned cold again, even in South Carolina. Work bounced me back and forth between South Carolina and Central Virginia. With no running water in the pipes, things don't fill up very fast, which is a good thing - it's about impossible to dump when the waters in the valve area are frozen.
Then this past weekend it warmed up. I was in Clover, SC and rejoiced in the sunshine. I took the scoot off the rack and rode to the excellent Curves there, then visited with my daughter. When I returned to the rig, my nose told me that the aforementioned waters had thawed out. Time for some plumbing.
Fortunately I was scheduled to work this week at home base. I drove north knowing I would be parked with electric hookups and driving my little car to and from work this week.
Monday I got off work a bit early (TG!), dumped, rinsed, parked. At home, I back onto ramps whose purpose in life is to make the motorhome level in a driveway which is decidedly not. That keeps the fridge (and me) happy. The side benefit is they put whatever you want to work on up where you can do it. In this case, the offending plumbing was about 2.5 feet off the ground.
The bolts on the valves had been there since 1988 and they wanted to stay. Danny got them off anyway, and I went to the local RV shop for replacement valves. I had them on and functional by the time dinner was ready.
Now if I can just get the new back-up cam installed. And no, you don't want pictures for this post.