A Relaxing Afternoon And Evening At Seven Feathers

We arrived at the beautiful Seven Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville, OR at 2:30pm on Thursday.  It was nice and early just as we like it when staying here. We left the Midway RV Park at 8am and had a real nice drive down I-5 and when we arrived at our destination it was a nice, warm 60F.  We just rolled onto our concrete, flat-level site and again I never even had to unhitch for the night.  Pretty nice!

Before dinner, I went to the spa for a swim and some hot tub time

It was an uneventful day which is a bonus when travelling as far as I’m concerned. We rolled right through downtown Portland and over the neat bridges, which I love, and the traffic was pretty light at 11am.  We were out of the city in no time and soon back on I-5 making good time.

The 1st Quilt Shop stop of this trip!

Although I’d describe the day as uneventful that’s not how Paulette saw it as she was anxiously looking forward to her first Quilt Shop visit of this trip.  We stopped in Springfield, near Eugene, OR, so she could check out “Something To Crow About” a shop she discovered a few years ago.  I managed to wrestle the truck and 5’er into the not so big parking lot and find a place to park.  Although Paulette said there were no great sales on she did manage to drop a few American dollars there!

At 2:30pm the east section was nearly empty – not so at 7:30pm

When we got all setup at our site, we decided to take Rylie for a nice, long walk. There’s a pretty good grocery store that’s part of the big truck stop here. It was a beautiful afternoon for a walk and we really enjoyed it after being kind of cooped up in the truck for a few days. When we walked past the east section of the RV park we noticed it was almost empty but it was still early.  Later on, I walked over to the clubhouse and the spots had mostly filled up which is pretty normal for here.

Trucks were lined up to use these 8 diesel pumps at 7 Feathers

I’d sure love to know how many gallons of diesel Seven Feathers pumps in a day. While Paulette was in the store, I watched the big rigs pull up one after another to fill up with diesel. As soon as one pulled out another pulled in. It was non-stop.  They must have gigantic holding tanks in the ground as I saw 3 or 4 big tankers standing by ready to fill up the underground tanks.

A free podcast series from iTunes

Before we left home, I’d been reading a lot on a few websites about a free iTunes podcast called Serial. Apparently, since it launched its 12 episodes in October it has become the highest downloaded podcast in history. We’ve passed the time while driving listening to it from my iPhone broadcast through our truck radio. It’s a great broadcast, we’ve listened to 6 one hour episodes already and will no doubt finish it before we get to Palm Springs. It’s a true murder mystery but you can check it our for yourselves if you’re interested.

Thanks for visiting!

A Xmas Techie Gift Idea, Roam Mobility & Day One Success

Our first day on the road as we head south to Palm Springs couldn’t have gone much better. We left home at 7:15am to drive down to Victoria where we caught the MV Coho ferry to Port Angeles. We were whisked through US Customs in less than a minute with just a few basic, simple questions and we were on our way!

In the line-up waiting to get on the ferry in Victoria

After driving out of the ferry terminal it was only a 3 hour drive down to the Midway RV Park here in Centralia, WA.  We took Hwy 101 south to Tacoma and connected to I-5.  The weather was warm and luckily we only got a few scattered showers here and there. Setup here was good and we never even had to unhitch as the concrete sites are dead level.  Everything seems to be working as it should so that’s always a relief.  It always feels good to see those slides move in and out as they’re supposed to!!

Our new Canadian Roam Mobility Hotspot worked liked a charm

In a previous blog a few weeks back I mentioned that I’d abandoned Verizon Cellular, after 7 years, in favour Roam Mobility a Vancouver, BC based  mobile service offering talk-text-data rates 90-per-cent lower than our big carriers.  I bought a $100 Liberty Hotspot (shown above) and now the only question was “how would the service be”?  Based on day 1 of our travels we’re thrilled.  I turned the Liberty Hotspot on in Port Angeles and we received blazing fast 4G reception for most of our drive to Centralia where the service was also 4G.  No contracts, no hassles!

Do you ever find yourself somewhere wanting to use your smartphone or tablet only to find its battery dead? 

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a little gizmo that you could easily carry in your pocket or purse that would provide instant power and charge your iPhone, iPad, Android smartphone or tablet?  What if I said that you can get these powerful little storage banks for less than $30? 

Well, you can and I’d like to tell you a little about 2 great power banks, the Lumsing Harmonica and Jackery Bar that our techie little grandson Mason bought us for Christmas. 

Yes, we’re proud to say that not only is our little man becoming quite the little techie like his Grandpa, but he’s also turning into a great little shopper like his Grammy – always on the lookout for bargoons!  Thanks, Mason, you hit the jackpot with these!

Lumsing High Capacity 10400mAh External Battery Pack Power Bank – $25.99

Mason gave me the Lumsing which I love. Here’s what it can do for just $25.99 from Amazon: 

• High Capacity,10400mAh of capacity. Charges all iPhones four to five times, a Galaxy S3 three times, or an iPad / iPad 2 once.
• Made with high quality Original SAMSUNG Li-ion battery and premium microchips, within CE, FCC, ROHS certification ensures reliability.

With this small device, when your smartphone battery dies, all you have to do is plug your phone’s USB cable into one of the ports on the Lumsing and you can start using it immediately.  I’ve found my Lumsing charges my iPhone 5S incredibly fast. The Lumsing weighs about 8oz and measures 138*59*21mm.  Paulette found it a little heavy but it’s perfect for me as I like the additional power storage.

Jackery Bar Premium  6000mAh Portable Charger Power Bank – $29.99

Mason gave his Grammy the smaller, lighter Jackery Bar which she can easily carry in her purse. The Jackery Bar weighs just 5.4 ozs., is 3.8x0.9x1.8 inches.

• High-capacity battery pack with 6000mAh rechargeable external battery power capacity with 2.1A output. Add 22 extra hours of talk time or 2-3 full charges to your iPhone 6 / 5S / 5C / 5 / 4S / 4 ; 1-2 full charges to Samsung Galaxy S5, S4, S3, 200+ hours of audio playback.
• The world's thinnest external battery charger; Fits easily into any bag or pocket; Compact, portable & stylish design; Easily fits into your bag to provide instant power.

The Lumsing 10400mAh can charge a smartphone and tablet

So, if you have someone who’s hard to buy for at Christmas but happens to have a smartphone or tablet, I don’t think you could go wrong with either of these handy and affordable gifts. They make great stocking stuffers for teenage grandchildren as well.

Thanks for visiting!

How To Get Rid Of Blogger’s ‘Robot’ Word Verification

While catching up on some blogs yesterday I noticed that quite a few of my favourite bloggers seem to have had their ‘comments’ taken over by the dreaded “to prove you are not a robot” word verification. This was widespread in blogland last week as Google or Blogger misfired somehow and changed a lot of bloggers’ default comment location.  I’m pretty sure no one wants that robot word verification so I’ll show you how to get rid of it.

Having to enter this stuff will severely restrict comments

There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for how some folks blog comments were changed and others were not. The only common factor I could see was the one’s affected all used pop-up windows for comments. Google prefers embedded I know so perhaps they were doing some system testing and messed things up.  It happens. 

 

In the image above you’ll see items marked 1. and 2.  Normally, by changing ‘Show word verification’ to ‘No’ as shown in 1. above that would do it. But that isn’t working for a lot of bloggers. There is a solution though and its shown in 2. in the same image. Changing your blog to ‘Embedded’ and ‘Show word verification’ to ‘No’ does work and it get’s rid of the ‘Robot’ thingie on your comments.  Here’s how to access this page on your blog:

1. Go to your Blogger Dashboard
2. Click the down arrow next to your blog name and select ‘Settings’
3. Click on the Comments tab on the left pane
4. Change the ‘Show word verification’ to ‘No’
5. Change the Comment Location to ‘Embedded’ if required

That’s it. I think Blogger may be trying to get rid of pop-up windows altogether and to standardize comments using the embedded format.  That’s what G+ Integrated comments uses.  Looks like they just goofed up by changing a lot of blogs without the owners having any idea.  Nice guys!

All hitched-up and ready to roll early Wednesday morning!

We had a very good day of packing and organizing for our departure on the MV Coho to Port Angeles on Wednesday morning. I hitched the truck and 5’er up before 1pm and except for a few small items and a lot of gizmos and gadgets, I was all done and had some time to relax in the afternoon. So did Paulette so we should be well rested for our first day’s drive down to the Midway RV Park in Centralia, WA.

Thanks for visiting!

Pretty Much Set To Rollout Wednesday Morning

It seems like it took forever for our departure date to arrive but now that it’s just about here it seems like it came all too fast.  We started packing up about a week ago as we wanted to have most of it done prior to our early Christmas celebration with our family this past weekend. No matter how much we plan, pack and organize, the last few days always seem like a rush as we go over and over our checklists to make sure we’re not forgetting anything.

The toughest job I had was saying goodbye for now to Mason

It wasn’t the organizing, packing, checking tire pressures, filling propane tanks or any of the other normal routine jobs required for planning a 3 month snowbird vacation which was the toughest for me. The toughest job by far was driving down to Victoria on Monday morning to see Carrie and Mason and say goodbye to our little man until we see him again at the end of March. All I can say is thank goodness for computers, broadband cable at the Sands and Facetime plus G+ Hangouts!!

Granddaughters Jessica, Mikayla and daughter Carrie

Our Christmas celebration and dinner was a lot of fun last weekend. As usual, Paulette outdid herself with another fantastic meal and some delicious desserts. Prior to dinner, we exchanged and unwrapped gifts which added to the feeling of Christmas even though it’s still 10 days away but who’s counting. We had 2 of our daughters, a son-in-law, 2 granddaughters and, of course, the star of the show our grandson Mason who turned 18 months old on Monday.

Thomas the Train was a big hit with Mason

As much as Mason loved his Thomas the Train toys and played with them, overall he was more interested in all the ornaments, decorations and doo-dads on his Grammy’s end-tables, coffee tables and other furniture. Mason is quite a little re-organizer and was very serious and industrious as he moved stuff from one location to the next and then back again. We all got a real kick out of watching what he was doing and mostly wondering what in the heck he was thinking!

We celebrated Carrie’s Birthday too!

Carrie’s birthday is in early January so we’ve fallen into the habit of celebrating her birthday with our Christmas dinner as most of our family is usually here. Due to the big family wedding last summer our daughters in Ottawa and Calgary weren’t able to fly out this year but we sent them all photos of the family sitting at the dinner table. Carrie’s birthday cake was to die for but Mason much preferred all the candles lit up and then helping his Mommy to blow them all out.

Thanks for visiting!

Me Favourite Scenic Photo Of The Past Year

First, let me clarify the title of my blog just a bit to make sure everyone knows I’m talking about photos that I have taken myself. In 2014, like most other years since I began blogging I’ve taken thousands of photos.  Many of them, I’ve featured in my blog but most of them remain on my computer or stored somewhere in the clouds of Google, Microsoft or Apple. It was pretty difficult to come up with the one I liked the best but in the end I chose the photo below taken on a meadow about halfway up Mt. Tzouhalem.

Halfway up Mt. Tzouhalem

We’ve made several hikes up Mt. Tzouhalem this year but the May 21st hike was our first of 2014 and it was a perfect late spring or early summer day. The grass was green, the leaves were on the trees and the meadows were full of wildflowers. I guess I liked it because it was so peaceful and quiet up there on the mountain. For whatever reasons, after looking a few dozen other choices this is my 2014 pick!

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Mason Has Another Fun Visit With Santa This Year

Last year, when Mason was only 6 months old, he loved his visit with Santa. He sat on Santa’s lap, laughed and pulled at his beard with no fear of the big man at all. We were all wondering how Mason would be this year and if he might be a little shy or even afraid now that he’s a year older. No worries!  Mason smiled at Santa, walked right up to him and after a high-five to say hello, Santa pulled Mason up on his knee and everything was just fine. Whew! 

It was such a fun morning with Mason at the mall visiting Santa that I don’t think I can really come up with the words to describe it. So, I’ll just let the pictures I took do all the talking for me along with a little added color commentary from our little man:

Hi Grandpa!  I can’t wait to see Santa!  This is so exciting!

It’s fun to get my big coat off and run before Santa arrives

Santa was really friendly and talked to me a lot.  I like that.

I think my Grandpa would make a really good Santa, don’t you?

O.K. Santa, I’ll see you next year…I’ve got fun things to check out

I’d sure like to take some of these decorations home for our Christmas tree

Before I try this Banana Loaf, I gotta make sure it’s not old and stale!  It’s o.k.!

This Starbuck’s ice water is way better than the water in my Sippy Cup

I knew Grandpa would let me ride the doggy before going home!

I love running around the mall with Grandpa trying to catch me!

Bye Grandpa, thank you and I’m coming to visit you and Grammy on Sunday

Thanks for visiting!

A Canadian Alternative To Cellular Roaming In USA

Goodbye, Verizon!  Hello, Roam Mobility!  Roam Mobility is a Vancouver, BC based  mobile service alternative for travellers to the United States that offers rates that are 90-per-cent lower than our big carriers – i.e. Telus, Bell and Rogers. It is extremely simple to use, requires no contracts and best of all you can use your unlocked smartphone with a $10 SIM, buy a Breeze USA phone ($50) that’s all set and ready to go, or a Liberty Hotspot ($99).  After that, you just choose a plan that suits you.

Use your own unlocked phone, buy a Breeze USA or a Liberty Hotspot

I switched to Roam Mobility yesterday and one of the reasons was frustration with  Verizon. It’s a long story of phone calls, online chats and being on hold. Somehow, someway, Verizon had de-activated my account after 7 years. No amount of talking to 6 or 8 service reps could resolve the problem. Luckily, I was already thinking about Roam Mobility so I threw in the towel on Verizon, bought a Liberty Hotspot device for $99 and signed up online for a good data plan that will serve us on the road while traveling. We use unlimited hi-speed broadband cable at the Sands RV Resort.

Cost comparison – Roam Mobility to Telus

Actual costs based on just one week Roam Mobility compared to Telus

One of the many things I like about Roam Mobility is the fact I can never go over the limit on roaming and subsequently incur horrendous roaming charges. The simple reason for this is you can’t go past the limit of the plan you have purchased in advance.  Also, you will be notified if you are reaching your GB limit so that you can top it off easily online, by text or phone.

Just 2 of the many customizable Snowbird Plans

The biggest decision I had to make was whether or not to go with a ‘Talk +Text + Data’ plan as opposed to ‘Data Only’ as I always had with Verizon. With Verizon, I paid $60 a month for 5GB.  Since we have Time Warner Broadband Cable for 3 months while at the Sands we never used more than 2GB of Verizon data so it became rather a waste of money as we only used it when we were off somewhere in our truck.

Knowing that, I went for a Roam Mobility ‘Data Only’ plan that gives us 2GB of 4G LTE and unlimited 2G data (emails mostly) per month for just $30. The Liberty Hotspot device can handle 5 devices at once so both Paulette and I can use it in our truck and in the 5’er while we’re travelling.  The best part of this whole deal for me though is I’m dealing with a Vancouver based company so I don’t have to worry about suspending or deactivating my account ever. My SIM is always good.

The Liberty Hotspot is small, light and portable (battery powered)

I really like Roam Mobility’s Liberty Hotspot as it’s light and very small. One of the problems with our old Verizon system was it used a USB modem that plugged into a small Cradlepoint router. It wasn’t portable as it had no battery. The Liberty Hotspot has its own battery and comes with a cable and electrical plug for recharging. With the Liberty, Paulette can just pop-it in her purse or coat pocket, connect her iPhone to its WiFi and then use G+ to phone anywhere in North America for free. We really don’t need cellphone ‘Talk + Text’ plans while in the US as we use free G+ Hangouts for phone calling.

Mason has been busy practicing his Facetime skills

So, tech-wise, I think we’re all set for departure in less than 2 weeks now. At the Sands RV Resort, we’ll be able to video chat with Mason with ease.  He’s quite the little techie already and loves laptops, tablets and iPhones. Carrie had to move her laptop from the table as Mason can now climb up on the chair by himself and was having a wonderful time clicking all the keys. Way to go, Mason, keep up the good work and you’ll be a pro in no time!

Thanks for visiting!