Reays on the Road

The Problem:

There were several annoyances we were having with our kitchen sink and faucet, including the Britta filter we attached when we first started traveling.  These included:
1) the faucet (with the Britta add-on) being close to to the sink, not allowing room for washing larger dishes like pans and pots. 
2) the Britta knob being too difficult for the girls to turn to fill up their own bottles with filtered drinking water. 
3) the faucet would over spray and has even dripped down the inside of the cabinet.
4) we had soap containers taking up counter space and that we constantly had to put away when we moved anywhere.

The before pictures:

The Solution :

The solution consisted of several steps, which included:
1) Installing a new faucet that is taller
2) Installing an under-counter water filtration system with a fixed drinking water spout
3) Installing a faucet with a spray nozzle on it, and caulking around the sink, where it meets the counter top.
4) Install an under-sink soap dispenser

After pictures:

We got to cross something off of our bucket list today, when we swam with the dolphins at Dolphins Plus in Key Largo, Florida.  For their “structured swim” with the dolphins, they allow ages 7 and up, but you would need to be 8 or older to participate in their “natural swim” with dolphins.  Dolphins Plus is a dolphin research facility that conducts observational studies with dolphins, including how they interact with humans and whether dolphins have different sounds for different babies, as just a couple of examples.  For the structured swim that we participated in, all four of us got in the water at the same time, and we all were provided with wet suits and flotation devices (since it was a bit chilly).  We were able to do several “tricks” with the dolphins, with the help of the dolphin trainers, who direct the entire experience.  The dolphins were awesome, and so gentle.  We were able to pet them, they kissed our cheeks, they pushed us through the water backward and forward, and they danced with us.  Here are a few pictures from our experience of a lifetime swimming with the dolphins.

When we were driving to the FL Keys last year, after several conversations about needing a checklist for when we pack up the RV and move, someone happened to forget to put down the parking break on the car we tow, and burned out the breaks (to such an extent that when Stefanie flew to the office the next time, and got back late at night, after leaving the car in the airport parking lot, the car would not reverse…and we had to drive the RV into the airport parking lot…that was quite a sight…to see the look on the attendant’s face when we drove the huge RV through the parking checkout…).

In addition, on that same trip to the FL Keys, someone happened to forget to take down the TV antenna, which, instead, was so kindly taken down for us by a low-hanging cable wire, prompting the purchase of this fancy little item:

Notes to self: check the parking brake before you tow, and a $5.00 sign costs less than a $150.00 replacement TV antenna. Next time…it might be worth giving in and making that checklist…just maybe…

When we left Montana the last time, we had a Glade Scented Oils container sitting on the counter, for a nice smell.

By the time we got to the south, and moved the scented oils wooden container (within which the oils bottle had tipped over), we noticed that it had actually eaten away the top of the laminate counter top! There were four spots, one for each of the small square openings on each of the corners of the wooden bottom of the Glade Scented Oils container.

After significant follow up with Galde’s claim department and getting two quotes from RV dealers/repair locations, Glade finally agreed to pay to replace the counter top.

Not to self: do not purchase Glade Scented Oils ever again…especially in a moving home!

It’s been a year since we first left on our trip RVing around the US.  We have had many fun visits with friends and family, put on almost 20,000 miles on the RV, visited 32 state capitols and 8 national parks.  We gained a puppy, assisted where we could with some serious health issues within our extended family, and dropped a couple of jobs to give us more time to spend enjoying our travels.  We also had the wonderful opportunity to take a trip to the Montana state volleyball tournament thanks to a wonderful group of girls, who put their hearts and souls into the volleyball season.  We are so proud of the volleyball girls and so proud of our girls for how well behaved they have been, how polite they have been to everyone we have met along the way, for how much work they have accomplished academically, and for what good helpers they have been.  We are excited to see what the next year brings!

From our home to yours, we want to wish everyone Happy Holidays, and hope that everyone stays happy and healthy in 2013.

–Brent, Stefanie, Katelynn, Adrianna, and Bella

We came back to Montana before the 4th of July for the Plentywood Centennial festivities, but also ended up making a quick trip to Great Falls for an illness in the family.  We have done a little traveling around Montana since, and were able to view some beautiful sites, including over by Cut Bank, and also a double rainbow while coming out of Havre going east on Highway 2.  We will be in Montana until the beginning of November, and will be posting pictures and fun places during that time, but the posts will probably be less frequent during this period.

On the way to visit an old friend and her family, we made a pit stop and picked up the newest member of our family.  We adopted a little mastiff-boxer mix puppy.  We named her Bella.

We hung out by the pool, went fishing on the dock and also on the boat, and just had fun in Sarasota.

We are visiting family in Siesta Key (part of Sarasota, Florida), and decided to try fitting into the driveway, and if it didn’t work, we would find a campground or a place to store the RV for the week and a half.  We tried, and we succeeded.  Now it looks like the RV has always been there and that the trees just grew around it.  Here are some pictures of our parking adventure.
The street…

The entrance to the driveway…

Venturing further in…

Whoa, what’s that hiding in the trees back there?

…oh look, it’s a 35 foot motorhome!

We had been parked in a friend’s neighbor’s driveway for a couple of days, when we came back home one evening, and noticed that the front of a white truck was in the ditch between the two driveways, and the rear tire was fully off the ground.  After asking what had happened, our friend’s mother blamed it all on us, saying that her husband was too busy staring at our RV and ran right into the ditch!  After many laughs, our friend used his pickup to pull his parents’ truck out of the ditch.  No one was hurt and no damage was done, which made it the perfect source of entertainment for the weekend.  We have been kicking ourselves, though, that we missed the photo opportunity.