Remarkable Reflectivity

Beauregard after his waxing. An astonishing level of sparkle.

Reflections…

Now, THIS is shiny!

Beauregard’s First Year (Part II)

 

There was no way we’d attempt the maiden voyage with Duke onboard, so his majesty remained at home. We had no set-up for towing yet, so El Bufo stayed home too. Bikes would be our only means of local transport as Beauregard launched off to Port Aransas for a few days at the Pioneer RV Resort. Beau looked and felt like a home for the first time.

It was a wonderful stay, as usual. Port A is a great place for relaxation. And after white-knuckling our way through Houston…phew, we needed the tranquility. The Driver grilled steaks while having a beer. Rode his bike, then had a thirst-quenching beer. Listened to a book from Audible, which required a beer, and took a few pictures of the “real” Cook, right after he had a beer.

The Cook did mostly nothing while slurping up icy blender drinks of various fruits, colors and proofs…in utter wonderment of just how plush and comfortable a Big Rig felt after the Airstream. Life was indeed quite luxurious!

Grateful for one successful notch in our travel belt, we boldly set forth to ready the rig for towing. Extensive research led us to the M&G Braking system.  (mentioned in the mid-year review.)

You couldn’t ask for a smoother installation. The trip went well and we were towing safely. Yet another hurdle had been overcome.

It was finally time to adapt Duke to sleeping in the Rig. Dog owners know it’s important to give the canine mind a chance to decide if something is scary or fun. We wanted Duke to have a good time, so the plan was to set the stage, slow and steady.

 Two weekend trips to Lake Livingston and an extended stay at Galveston Island State Park has HOPEFULLY readied our Monarch for a much longer trip to the Ouachitas in October.

 

Beauregard had his six month check-up at Freightliner in Beaumont, where he’ll return in a few weeks for his one year exam. A full year !? Time flies. We wish it would fly faster so RollingBlunderZ can start traveling in earnest.

We are counting the days…

Beauregard’s First Year (Part I)

 

Attending the 2010 RV Show with no preconceived notions, we wandered around goofing off, climbing in&out of this&that rig, having fun. Should we buy new or used? Class A or C or maybe a Fifth Wheel? Diesel or gas? Engine front or back? There were many options to consider, but plenty of time to decide, at least a couple of years, or so we thought.

Looking back at the pictures, it’s fun to see the Driver checking out an interior that’s identical to our Beauregard. Little did we know that by August of this very same year, we’d be signing papers on what amounted to another house. A wobbly house on wheels, but still, a house !?!  Oh my.

Off we went on vacation to Switzerland. While perched on an Alp communing with the Alpine Chough, minding our own business…

…an email arrived that bowled us over. Our FRIENDS had purchased a Phaeton!  While awaiting my hot chocolate, I’m receiving that very email at Piz Gloria atop Schilthorn.

 

Holy. Moly. We hadn’t been aware they had started the shopping process, and here they were Owners! They’d purchased a huge rig, 40’ long! My return email teased them about being un-invited to our property, since there was no way their behemoth could maneuver or fit on our narrow roads.

 Ah, but the mood was contagious, and not a month passed before we too began to shop in earnest. Heading down to PPL Motorhomes on a hot Texas Tuesday nailed the lid on the coffin. We were doomed to a Class A Tiffin motorhome, by far the greatest bang for the buck. Nothing else came close, and we looked at a lot of rigs. For us, Tiffin just fits. The Cook wanted something smaller, but the Driver was adamant. He wanted the full monty, and that is exactly what he got.

 At first we considered buying a sensible used rig, but that notion didn’t work out.  An eventual discovery, that the rotten economy had left brand new rigs sitting on sales lots at steep, steep discounts, caused us to take the leap… right over to Kite Brothers RV in Deridder.

There was our Beauregard. All three AC’s, washer/dryer, four flat screen TV, excessive 40 feet of him. We bought him, weighed him, registered him and brought him home only to scratch him up trying to get on the property. Dang. Well, at least the first yowza came early and we got over the “brand-new-perfect” period really fast. Phae and her owners were suddenly re-invited as the property improvements began. We could make our place suitable for a 40’ rig, but it would take some doing.

We moved our Airstream, had the old RV port disassembled, yanked out a crape myrtle, cut down trees, trimmed many limbs, found a builder, and ordered supplies for a much larger storage structure with 50amp service.

Adam did a fantastic job. He brought in a concrete team that made the work look like ballet. The widened departure driveway allowed for much easier exits, but getting on the property was still difficult, so…

 

…Darryl not only built our new road, he widened our entry driveway (once permission was obtained from the TDoT)

Finally, a large pine was dropped and the stump ground. With some luck and lots of caution we could now get on and off our property with relative ease.

We were almost ready for our Maiden Voyage!

Beauregard Returns to Beauregard

Parish, that is.

Today we took the big guy back to our dealer for generator service, a few warranty items and a big old hand waxing, a task we didn’t want to tackle. The service department at Kite is stellar. They are just a great bunch of guys. We enjoyed the visit, but the highlight of the day was lunch.

Tha Da Petch in Leesville, La. made up for the total lack of ambience by having fantastic food. Apparently we’re not the only ones who think so, see the Yelp review HERE. 

The owner is a sweetie. Next week, when we return to pick up Beau, we plan to call ahead and order a hefty take-out order. It was that good!

“Summertime”

…the Billy Stewart version, is the perfect way to kick off the weekend. Tonight let’s do mojitos and chicken fajitas while we try to stay cool.

Billy’s scat style was lost to the music world when he was only 32. Just listen to the sax on this number:

 

Summertime

 

Next Friday Beauregard makes his return trip to Deridder for a week-long stay in celebration of his first birthday. Our gift to him is a full body wash and wax, so stay tuned for some beauty shots of our shiny big guy.

Have a great weekend!

English Channel (UL230-2)

 

This decal from the Vintage Airstream Club, along with much flotsam & jetsam of decades past, is about to be washed away by the English Channel. Behr Premium Plus Ultra interior satin enamel UL230-2, English Channel.

The story of our 1985 Airstream Sovereign land yacht is for another day.

Puppy Love

Can two geeky high school sophomores, city kids no less, keep a dream alive for more than forty years?  A dream hatched in a green canvas Morsan’s tent. The dream of RVing North America to their heart’s content?

Yes. Yes indeed they can.

It’s Friday! Music & Cocktails Day. Stir up your favorite summer beverage, and for your listening pleasure:

 Donald Fagen's "Nightfly" .

 

One of the most perfect albums ever recorded.

Feel free to substitute “mz” for maxine, “Houston, the City” for Mexico City, and “East Texas” for Manhattan.

“Some say that we're reckless, they say we're much too young.
Tell us to stop before we've begun. We've got to hold out till graduation, try to hang on maxine.
While the world is sleeping, we meet at lincoln mall.
Talk about life, the meaning of it all.
Try to make sense of the suburban sprawl, try to hang on maxine.
Mexico City is like another world.
Nice this year they say. You'll be my senorita, in jeans and pearls.
But first let's get off this highway.
We'll move up to Manhattan, and fill the place with friends.
Drive to the coast and drive right back again.
One day we'll wake up, make love but 'til then
Try to hang on maxine. “

Have a great weekend.