RV 1.0-Day 2& 3 Back to Basics

Meet "Nellie" our tandem bike. She's our sight seeing transportation!

The very tasty dinner !

It's day 3 of our experiment. Life would not be interesting if not for the times we have to improvise. On the way to the lodge to post on our blog yesterday, we were climbing a hill on our tandem which at the time seemed like Mount Everest ! Anyway, Dennis geared down to 1/2 then down to 1/1 and the rear gears “fell out” I had no ability to pedal nor did he. I screamed a few words as the we lost the bike power and off we went. We landed on our feet ! It took me a minute or two to gather my composure and of course the gentle husband Dennis is in his calming voice said “I guess we will walk this bike up the rest of the hill and fix the gears.” After the minor tweaking of the gears we were on our way. The bike path to the lodge is what they call a moderate ride. Ok, maybe for young people but for us I would call it a 9.0 ! While we were posting a large rain storm came and we had a great view of the lake as it rained. We waited it out in the lodge but time was passing so we decided to head back in the drizzle. It was really not bad riding in the rain. It provided some coolness as we struggled to take those hills home. When we arrived back to the RV I decided to use the microwave. It had been working that morning. Not now! Dennis being the engineer worked on it but could not repair the darn thing. So back to basics I went. Using the stove top. Then I thought I will make some biscuits to go with our stew that had been cooking all day in the slow cooker and the banana bread for the morning. So I got all the ingredients mixed and asked Dennis to light the pilot on the stove. About 45 minutes later it was lite. Apparently air was in the line and had to be bled out. Honestly for a moment I thought how am I going to cook what I brought without the stove. As you can see in the picture above the baking worked out really great. Dinner was very tasty! 

 Did you know a microwave is simply a convenience. After World War 11 people started demanding convenience. I myself like many others my age remember the day's of Moms & Dads finding a use for everything. Now we live in a instant throw away society. Even though the RV has some nice conveniences like in door plumbing you really have to think conserve. Conserve energy, water and reuse. Today I put up a clothes line between the trees. As you see in the picture I did some laundry. Did you know you can take a 5 gallon paint bucket (new of course) a new toilet plunger put a hole in the lid for the handle fill with water and laundry detergent and plunge. You are now the washing machine agitator. You know only the Class A motor homes have a washer/dryer combination. We knew in our research we would need to hand wash and hang or go to a laundromat. I have enjoyed for the last 33 of the 36 years of my marriage the convenience of a washer & dryer. But, again now that there is only two of us and Dennis is no longer wearing a suit to work everyday laundry isn't a big deal. As I continue my part of the research on RV living I must make a note to self ; how much convenience is need or want!......Software