NOVEMBER

We finally arrived back in the Portland area at the end of October and moved into an RV park for the month before heading to Champoeg State Park.  We are not used to paying for electricity when we are hosting, so staying a month in a private park during the cold weather, was a shock.  Who could believe our little 400 sq. ft. home could use over $100 worth of electricity in  a month?  The price we pay to stay warm!!!

Being back home is bitter sweet.  We are glad to be here to see D'enne, Mike and Matt, as well as all of our wonderful friends.  But as I watched all the Face Book postings from friends who are in Arizona for the winter.....as Jimmy Carter once said....."I lust in my heart!"

First thing we did was head to Camping World in Wilsonville, Or.  to get started on fixing the fridge we lost in South Dakota, the jacks we lost in Connecticut and the mirror we lost in Montana.  The experience we had with Camping World over these items turned into a small nightmare.

Our first roadblock was to discover we were the first person to need a repair that fell under new guidelines, meaning Camping World was required to submit our claim to our insurance, once okayed, an independent inspector needed to come out and 'verify' the legitimacy of the claim and approve it, then we could schedule the repair.

This required us to pull our rig out of the RV park three times and take it to Camping World.  First for the inspector to check things out, second for the fridge to be repaired, and thirdly for the jacks computer board to be replaced.

Fridge got repaired and after 4 weeks of buying ice and trying to keep a very empty unit cold, our next grocery purchase was quite large to replace what we had lost.  But all is good when we were finally able to open the fridge and find something to snack on!

 

Next came the call the part for the jacks was in.  So once again, we packed everything up and headed to Camping world where we dropped it off and headed to dentist appointments.  When we finally returned, we're told all was ready to go.  We pulled out, got into our site at the RV park and proceeded to put the jacks down.  NO......they did not go down, or up!  Long and short.....called Camping world...a tech stopped by next morning, said we were out of hydraulic fluid and would come by on his way home.  He never did....nor did he call!  Next day after a call from us, another tech came out and after calling the manufacturer of the board, found out the board is bad, as was all of the ones produced in that batch.  No idea when they will have a fix.

So, we have managed to level ourselves using what I call RV Lego's and we await a call from either the manufacturer or Camping World, which I believe will never come.  Camping World's service department is the most disorganized and has such poor morale within their employees, I am sure we will fall into the 'black hole'.  As for the manufacturer......we do not have a contact name or number, so we can only hope we will not get lost in their system too.

November was the month to see all of the doctors we needed to see and get caught up on all of our testing.  My visits were minor, with end result of seeing a physical therapist for my knee that has hurt more and more this last year as we hiked.  Nothing major, just a muscle that needs to be stretched out.

Deane's visits are little more involved.  Saw his heart doc and got good news.  The echo cardiogram they did on him showed good improvement in his heart.  And the pacemaker is working fine showing minor battery usage.   The dermatologist did not give him really bad news, but news we did not want to hear.  A small spot on his cheek has tested positive for melanoma, a very light or surface type and needs to be removed.  The doctor does not seem overly concerned because it appears to be of minimal invasion.  He has been referred to a surgeon who will do an out patient procedure on 12/9.

In between all of the visits to physicians and dentists, we have reconnected with friends for games and dinners and have had grandson Matt spend the night with us.

We also moved into Champoeg State Park a week early and have started our 'jobs'.  We love this park and our jobs here.  Working in the Visitors Center gives us a chance to interact with the rangers,  the staff of the "Friends of Champoeg" group as well as all of the visitors who stop in for one reason or another.  We've not worked here in the winter and keeping busy is proving to be a challenge as the weather gets colder. One day we had just one person come into the Center, other days we had as many as 30.  Deane loves being able to teach kids about the history of the area and I sell stuff, so when the Center is busy we are all happier.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with D'enne, Mike and Matt.  We played a game called Cranium and Matt thought it would be good to have the girls challenge the guys (3 guys to 2 girls).   Of course the Momma's won!  It's a great family game that combines trivia pursuit, charades, drawing, singing, and using play dough to make your clue.

The night after Thanksgiving, Deane and I kicked off the holiday season seeing a play called Plaid Tidings.  An off Broadway play touring the nation.  If it is in your area, we recommend seeing it.

The Christmas season has begun...... wishing you and yours a Very Merry Christmas.