We have been preparing for our trip to London, begining in mid-July. In fact, we have been preparing for 3 months, so far. We will be spending 2 months traveling around England, staying in 6 hotels in 5 cities London twice) as well as 6 National Trust Cottages. All of those stays are reserved. We also have car rentals reserved in 2 different locations. We were not able to rent a car through Expedia for more than 30 days, thus two rentals.
John is trying to get his head around driving in the wrong direction again. He did that before. I have to prepare myself for that, as well. We decided to have both of us registered as drivers. We never know when something will happen and the main driver won't be able to take the wheel. This week we visited AAA in Centennial to get our International Driving Licenses. They are the main agency across the country that provides those licenses.
We have purchased two suitcases, one to be checked and one to carry on with us. We have been traveling by RV for years and we got rid of all but one small, carry-on size bag. We won't be using it this trip, however.
We have researched cell phone SIM cards so we can use our cell phones in England without paying really big bucks on a Verizon international plan. We are reading travel books, studying the map of England, and researching where our ancestors lived in that country before coming to America. Learning more about those ancestors is a major focus of the trip.
Above I said we would be staying in National Trust Cottages. Those are historic buildings around England that have been converted into what are called holiday cottages. On our last fairly long trip to England we stayed in the Coast Guard Cottage on the Isle of Wight, in the lighthouse keepers cottage at the White Cliffs of Dover, and in an Arts and Crafts home outside London. We can shop in the local grocery stores and cook our own meals when we are lodging in these cottages. We're looking forward to it.
I hope to blog as we travel through England. We will have to wait and see what kind of internet we have. Also, we are each taking an iPad but leaving our laptop computers at home. Blogging is much easier on the computer.
This trip is how John and I are celebrating our 75th birthdays. We don't know how many more years we will be able to do this kind of independent travel so we wanted to do it while we are still healthy enough to enjoy it.
Showing posts with label cell phones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cell phones. Show all posts
Friday, May 18, 2018
Saturday, December 27, 2014
About Finished
We are about finished--infusing cash into the Arizona economy, that is. Since arriving in early October, we have bought a house, contracted to have the concrete paving and a workshop/storage room built, bought furniture, dishes, silverware and many more items so we could live in the home.
Today, we purchased a set of kitchen knives and pans. That allows us to return pans and knives to our RV. We did not want to have to transfer dishes, pans and other kitchen equipment back and forth when we came to Arizona for the winter or left for our summer travels. Believe me, Bed, Bath and Beyond has been really happy we came to town this year.
On top of all this, yesterday I became eligible for an upgrade to my iPhone. So, guess what I bought today. An iPhone 6+. It will be so fun to use and I will be able to really read the email and websites on the new, larger screen. My phone is the one we use most when we are out and about and the new, larger screen will really help.
Now it is time for someone else to take over support of the local economy. Just about the only thing we still need for the house are a couple of ceiling fans.
Today, we purchased a set of kitchen knives and pans. That allows us to return pans and knives to our RV. We did not want to have to transfer dishes, pans and other kitchen equipment back and forth when we came to Arizona for the winter or left for our summer travels. Believe me, Bed, Bath and Beyond has been really happy we came to town this year.
On top of all this, yesterday I became eligible for an upgrade to my iPhone. So, guess what I bought today. An iPhone 6+. It will be so fun to use and I will be able to really read the email and websites on the new, larger screen. My phone is the one we use most when we are out and about and the new, larger screen will really help.
Now it is time for someone else to take over support of the local economy. Just about the only thing we still need for the house are a couple of ceiling fans.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
An Adventure, Maybe?
It's been quite a day. About 2 am today, we woke up to a "chirp"....."chirp"....."chirp". What is that? Not good, it's the LPCO detector. Do we have a propane leak? Where is the booklet on that alarm? After I found it and read the pertinent sections, we learned it was a fault alarm, not a leak alarm, which would be "chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp." After pushing the reset button, it turned off. Until 3:58 am, to be exact. I closed the sliding door between the bedroom and the alarm and we slept till 6.
Thank heavens for cell phones. How many of you were on the road before we had these wonderful devices? After we woke up and had our coffee, I wanted to call the manufacturer of the detection device. Years ago, we would have had to stay in one place long enough for me to find a pay phone, call the manufacturer of the device, wait on hold for 5 minutes or so, to learn the name of a business at our destination--Las Cruces, NM--that services Atwood products. Later in the morning, we would have had to pull over at another pay phone and call that business, only to learn they don't deal with COLP alarms. They referred me to an RV supply business in Las Cruces. It would have taken another stop at a pay phone to call the factory where our RV was built to learn how to disable the chirping detector. Since it is only warning of a fault in the device, not a gas leak, we wanted to at least get silence tonight. The service supervisor called back and said there is a fuse that can be pulled to give us silence tonight.
At one point during our drive east in I-10, I heard a clink and looked to see something rolling off to the median from the vicinity of our RV. I didn't think of it again. A little later, a small red car pulled up and I though they were going to pass. Instead, they honked. When I looked (I was driving), they pointed down and toward the RV. I quickly pulled off on the right shoulder. John walked around the RV and truck and finally noticed that the sewer hose, which is stored in a tube attached to the bottom of the trailer, was trailing out on the ground! He put it back in the tube and re-secured the cover.
We pulled in an RV park in Las Cruces. As I prepared to use the automatic level-up system, I looked at the driver side front leveling leg. Something didn't look right. When lowered, this is what the leg should look like.
Instead, this is what I saw.
Notice this is no foot or landing plate on the bottom of the leg. That must have been what I heard go "clink" as I drove down the road. (Do you suppose that is what opened the cover so the sewer hose could spill out?)
More phone calls ensured--to a local mobile RV repairman, a local RV dealer, and an RV parts and supply business. Oh, yes, and to the factory, to the same service supervisor I had talked to earlier today. He suggested I call someone local, since our level-up system is available on many RVs. Since I already knew no one here had them, he suggested I call his parts department and have one sent under our warranty. Hopefully, that will happen.
To make a long story a little shorter, two people we called suggested we put a 2 X 4 under the leg to support it. We don't have any of those, so we turned the orange leveling blocks upside down so the screw at the bottom fit in one of the holes. We are good for now.
Not the smoothest day for our second day on the road after sitting still for six months. But, everything is good for now. It took nine cell phone conversations and some thinking, but we are set up and happy. And we are so grateful for our cell phone and advice from the factory.
Thank heavens for cell phones. How many of you were on the road before we had these wonderful devices? After we woke up and had our coffee, I wanted to call the manufacturer of the detection device. Years ago, we would have had to stay in one place long enough for me to find a pay phone, call the manufacturer of the device, wait on hold for 5 minutes or so, to learn the name of a business at our destination--Las Cruces, NM--that services Atwood products. Later in the morning, we would have had to pull over at another pay phone and call that business, only to learn they don't deal with COLP alarms. They referred me to an RV supply business in Las Cruces. It would have taken another stop at a pay phone to call the factory where our RV was built to learn how to disable the chirping detector. Since it is only warning of a fault in the device, not a gas leak, we wanted to at least get silence tonight. The service supervisor called back and said there is a fuse that can be pulled to give us silence tonight.
At one point during our drive east in I-10, I heard a clink and looked to see something rolling off to the median from the vicinity of our RV. I didn't think of it again. A little later, a small red car pulled up and I though they were going to pass. Instead, they honked. When I looked (I was driving), they pointed down and toward the RV. I quickly pulled off on the right shoulder. John walked around the RV and truck and finally noticed that the sewer hose, which is stored in a tube attached to the bottom of the trailer, was trailing out on the ground! He put it back in the tube and re-secured the cover.
We pulled in an RV park in Las Cruces. As I prepared to use the automatic level-up system, I looked at the driver side front leveling leg. Something didn't look right. When lowered, this is what the leg should look like.
Instead, this is what I saw.
Notice this is no foot or landing plate on the bottom of the leg. That must have been what I heard go "clink" as I drove down the road. (Do you suppose that is what opened the cover so the sewer hose could spill out?)
More phone calls ensured--to a local mobile RV repairman, a local RV dealer, and an RV parts and supply business. Oh, yes, and to the factory, to the same service supervisor I had talked to earlier today. He suggested I call someone local, since our level-up system is available on many RVs. Since I already knew no one here had them, he suggested I call his parts department and have one sent under our warranty. Hopefully, that will happen.
To make a long story a little shorter, two people we called suggested we put a 2 X 4 under the leg to support it. We don't have any of those, so we turned the orange leveling blocks upside down so the screw at the bottom fit in one of the holes. We are good for now.
Not the smoothest day for our second day on the road after sitting still for six months. But, everything is good for now. It took nine cell phone conversations and some thinking, but we are set up and happy. And we are so grateful for our cell phone and advice from the factory.
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