Funtimes

The first day out was uneventful.  We cruised to Lewiston, Idaho and had a wonderful dinner with our cousins so many removed I have lost count.  We caught up on families and things we are doing.  Had a decent night sleep for the first night out.  We are using Comfort Inns for our first few stops and so far we are pleased with the accommodations.  We left Lewiston this morning en route to Butte, Montana via Missoula, Montana.

For the most part, Idaho seems to have a decent highway system, until you travel 12E.  This highway rises over five thousand feet to Lolo Pass just before you enter Montana and the road bed is one of the worst we have encountered in our travels.  It winds up the mountain, and I mean winds.  In fact, Honey, sitting in the backseat managed to leave the contents of her stomach over a good portion of the backseat.  As a caveat, I will add that this road and the many potholes it has, is probably closed for the whole winter most years.  The road bed doesn't do well under extreme conditions.  The views of the river were spectacular and the snow and icicles were pretty at Lolo pass.

We ran into a couple from Wasilla, Alaska who, according to their business card, "Alaska=Spring & Summer, Montana=Fall & Winter".  They were heading the opposite direction as us but they had a house on wheels that was like nothing I had seen before.  I guess I kind of imposed on them when I walked over to ask about it.

They gladly showed it to us and I wish I had a picture of this thing in the open position.  If you go online to Alto by Safari Condo, you can see the great little trailer.  The one-piece roof panel rises up from the rear to give headroom plenty tall enough for me.  Super light, but built in Canada with a year and a half wait to get one.  It runs in the neighborhood of  35-40K US.

We drove on to Butte and have another super long drive tomorrow as we make our way to Dickinson, North Dakota.

Hope all is well.

That's it

The Gonzaga Bulldogs lost to North Carolina last night.  The Mariners lost their open day game to Houston.  The President is messing with privacy laws, EPA regulations, and just about anything else that has previous President's names attached to it.  Local government plans to tax the hell out of us all in the name of helping the homeless.

Me, I've had enough.  I am taking a trip.  Two years ago I was in Winslow, Arizona.  Today I start a trip the will take us to the midwest, down south to the gulf and back through some pretty hot country. Turn up the radio, put on Willy Nelson and "I can't wait to get on the road again".

Last Minute

Last minute preparations are underway as we ready ourselves to hit the road this coming Tuesday.  So looking forward to making the trip to the midwest and then down south to New Orleans and back home via Texas and Arizona.
I will get the car serviced tomorrow, finish all the laundry and get to packing up as much of our closets as we can.  Not really, we'll usually travel pretty lite when we are on the road.  We, I, will be blogging and sending links to Facebook as we make our way back to the place where some of our relatives came from.  We'll visit cousins and friends along the way.  So ready to leave.

Two years ago today, Camp Verde, AZ

Delayed

Our early spring trip to the east and down south has been postponed until April 4th.  We had originally planned to leave March 27th but I guess I just can't turn away when someone calls and asks me to help.

I started working in the parts department of a high line auto dealership in an effort to help them get some employees up to speed on the parts side of the business.  I can only say that this has been a very eye-opening experience.  I won't go into details here in public but believe me when I say there is a lot of shock involved.

Anyway, we will be leaving on the 4th for sure and I will be giving updates as we once again travel across America.

Hope all is well.

An Evening With Groucho

Mia and I attended "An Evening With Groucho" last night at our local theater, the Centerstage.  I remember watching Groucho and his inappropriate fast paced responses to those he interviewed on his television show "You Bet Your Life".

Discovered by Groucho's son, Arthur, Frank Ferrante writes and acts in this two act, one man play.  For two-plus hours, Mr. Ferrante portrays Groucho Marx in all of his splendor. Combined with stories about Groucho's life and times, the evening is filled with many of the one-liners and inappropriate jokes.  Mr. Ferrante sings, dances and slapsticks his way across the stage leaving the audience in stitches.

Mr. Ferrante is a wonderful actor and comedic presence.  Locally he has portrayed Caesar, the Latin Lover at our local dinner theater, Teatro ZinZanni.  During last night's show, Mr. Ferrante combined the stories and slapstick with interactions with the audience.  We were laughing so hard that I was happy to see the fifteen minute intermission.

I highly recommend this show even if you don't have a clue who Groucho Marx was.

LED Retro Kit

After my last post, I was asked about the LED Retro Kit I used to turn my fluorescent shop lights into LED units with no ballast.  Actually, it is a relatively simple process and the difference between the two is absolutely amazing.

You start by turning off the electrical supply to the lights at the breaker box.  Just turning off the switch isn't enough because there could be something else on the system with power even with the light switch off.

Next you need to remove the fluorescent bulbs and locate the two screws at each end of the unit that holds the wiring cover on.  Remove them and set the cover aside.

The wiring and ballast are exposed in the picture above.

Next you need to cut all of the wires, close to the ballast.  Leave the black and white wires attached to the wires that come from the house electrical system and strip back the insulation about a half an inch.

Next you need to replace the holders for the bulbs with the new ones included with the retro kit.  Make a loop of a white and black wire and connect the two end pieces.  I forgot to take a picture of the wired end so I found the picture below on the internet.  It shows a loop for a four bulb system but it is the same for two.

Install the other two bulb holders at the opposite end of the fixture.  No wiring is required for these two as they are dummies who's only purpose is hold the new LED bulbs in place.

Reinstall the wiring cover and install the new bulbs and be sure that the power side (next to the label) is on the side with the wires attached.  When you are done, you'll need to dispose of the bulbs and the ballasts.  Check your local recycling regulations for disposal instructions.

All in all a very simple process.  Except now my arms feel like rubber.

Hope all is well.

Changes

A few months back one of the fluorescent light units that light up my shop and garage decided to start smoking.  Over the years, I have seen this several times.  The ballast that pushes the fluorescent to work get really hot and over the course of time, break down and start to smoke.  I have never seen one catch fire but I don't think I want to wait around to find out.  Luckily, I was in the garage at the time and was able to shut off the power and disconnect the lamp.

I went looking for a better idea since I have five more of these units in the shop.  I found a retro kit made by Commercial Electric that removes the ballast and turns a 4' shop light into an LED fixture with no ballast.  Couldn't be simpler to install and gives off much bright and better lighting and cost less to use.  I just finished two lamps and ordered two more retro kits to do the remainder of the garage.

Before

After

Two done

So I had a couple of more Root Beers.  Bedford's Root Beer was a spirited drink.  It comes in an old fashion bottle and is very tasty.  Developed and bottled just west of Seattle in Port Angeles, Washington it is more of a dessert drink with more of a licorice scent.

Next up, Jack Black's Dead Red Root Beer.  Not sure where it is bottled, but this is a Root Beer that comes with an energy drink in the form of Brazilian Guarana.  I really enjoyed this drink but I did drink it late enough in the day to be left Sleepless in Seattle.

Hope all is well.