Getting Europa ready for the road

 I've been parked in AL all week, with a "To Do" list for Europa that I wanted to get done before we got back on the road for the rest of the year. And I only have about two or three things left to get done!

 On of the main things that HAD to be done was to reseal the roof. Had been doing "research" on the different types of roof paints, and believe me, there are a whole passel of different paints and sealers available out there! But I needed for it to be "elastomeric"...in another words, it has to stay flexible and I needed it to insulate somewhat. Well, settled on a certain brand, and so far I think it is going to do the job!

 You can tell from these first pics that the roof was in dire need of being painted. And I had just a couple of very tiny leaks...so whatever I used need to be able to seal the roof also. 

 I ended up with getting a paint that I am real happy with as of now...time will be the real test for it! But it went on very easily, covered real well & man, is it "cool". The rear part of the roof is in the sun from sunrise to about 2pm each day. Before getting the "first" coat on you could not put your hand on the roof for more than a couple of seconds. The first coat was probably much thicker than they say to do, but I was actually able to get a lighter second coat on with the roller, so it is much more uniform in coverage and color. And now you can put your hand on it and it actually feels cool!  

And I can already tell a difference inside! it is at least 4-6 degrees cooler in here, so it looks like it is going to do what I had been hoping for! Which is going to make warm weather travel much better!!

Also done this week...timing on the engine set, all new belts, the headlight switch replaced, think we got any vacuum leaks, aux batt issue taken care of (one of my batteries had gone bad, so one new battery)-left every light on last night for over 6 hours and the water pump, and still had strong 12v power.

And I still have two doors and one vent that I'm going to seal up with some styrofoam insulation and that will also help keep the cool/warm in Europa as we travel. Right now they are open to the outside to the point that I can see daylight when I open some of my storage doors...that will be fixed this afternoon and tomorrow!!

So the next two days is for getting stuff put back up in Europa to be ready to roll. Still purging some stuff, it's amazing just how much crap you accrue even with you live in a "very tiny" tiny house on wheels!!  LOL! But I keep purging and clearing out stuff. Getting closer to done each day!!

Be sure to keep up with us (Me, Abbie & Snickers) as we are finally getting ready to really start our travels!! Between now and Nov 15th we are going to be covering close to 3,000 miles! 

My two little companions are good travelers, they settle in pretty quickly and almost act like they enjoy the ride!

And don't forget to check out my FB page "America, you need to see it" and my YouTube channel of the same name. I hope to be getting short videos of our travels up load soon and on a weekly basis.

Take Care and C'ya out here!!

In Bama

Made it to AL. Europa made the run just fine. Still need to do some tweaking on her, but she's doing pretty well. I'll be in AL a week or so, then on the road in a northerly direction! ⛺🚐👍🐸

Back in my house!

Back in Europa! She's running...still will need some tweaking, but that is going to happen in AL. But I'm a happy camper! She seems to be running well, she's back in one piece...& the critters &I are back in our house! 👍🐸🍻  It's almost 11pm & I've almost got everything out of the U-Haul. That will be done in the morning after I get, rather, try to get everything out back up tonite & I get some sleep. I'm trying to remember where all this stuff went! LOL! Too much stuff for so small a space! I feel a purge coming on! More in a couple of days! 😉👍🐸🤓

COFFEE!!! The Elixir of Life!! 😉🐸

https://www.warriorcoffee.com/news/2/12-health-benefits-and-6-disadvantages-of-coffee-smashing-it

Doing the Waiting Game thing!!!

Still in Longview, TX at my daughter's place. They are putting up with me and my "children"....LOL!....Abbie & Snickers!

                               

I will say...it has been just so hot lately! The heat indexes have been hitting 105°-110° on a fairly regular, if not daily, basis! I just don't do well with all the humidity that seems to be in the area! 

But it has given me time to go thru the stuff I have with me that came out of Europa and from my storage locker...and get rid of a few more items!  LOL!  I just keep thinning out what I have to have for my lifestyle!!

 I got a pic from Tim & Steve yesterday, they are the brothers that are doing the top rebuild on Europa, that showed the heads off!!!  Europa looks SO sad from this view!  LOL!  But the good news is that outside of the head gasket blowing, just from eye looking, it does not look like there are any other major issues! Won't know for sure if either head warped any until next week when the shop is able to get to them. But for now things are looking good.

Europa is getting a full top-end rebuild...new head, intake, exhaust gaskets, head bolts, valve guides, new water pump, thermostat, hoses,  belts, etc....she should be good for 200K miles when I get her back on the road again.

Had new tires put on in Charlotte, NC and Dean rebuilt the front brakes in Gadsden, AL.  So most of what is left to do is just "cosmetic" and normal "home" upkeep. 

So I am feeling very good about the rest of the year...I just have to weather this little setback!! It has definitely changed my travel plans for the rest of the year, mainly due to the summer temps and weather in general...not to mention it has rather screwed up my budget!!!  LOL!

Also spent a couple of days with the kids in NRH,TX. They are doing fine and the g'kids are just growing up WAY too fast! LOL!

And of course...some of the kids never grow up!!  LOL!

 Like Daddy....like Daughter!!!  LOL

Either these kids are growing up too fast...OR...I'm getting old too fast!!

That about brings things up to date here! I'll post some more early next week, going to run down to Round Rock next week to see the folks and take pictures on the way down and there and back!!!

C'ya Later!!

👍🐸🚐🚐⛺⛺🍻🍻🌞🌞👍🐸

State of emergency issued for Ocracoke Island due to power outage

A very good reason to be prepared....if we are not ready to take care of our own families and selves...who is going to??  They might have "limited power in 3 hour increments", but that will take it's toll on fridges, etc.



How ready are you???????

Brazilian pianist, Eliane Rodrigues, LITERALLY taking the performance be...

This is one of those "you gotta watch this"!  She is a TRUE PROFESSIONAL!!!!!  Awesome!!

NRH - Quick visit!

Had a good drive to NRH this morning...it was overcast all the way! Heavenly!! LOL! Came by to see the kids, empty my U-Haul locker & visit with Cary before he heads it to his new rig.

These grandkids are growing like weeds! I do believe I will put bricks on their heads to slow them down!

Hot here as usual. Going to check on Europa tomorrow & see how she's coming along. Expect it will be 10-14 more days before she's ready to roll.

Texas - Thursday? -Better Be! LOL!

Got Europa running & cranking...and as I started out...a cloud of white!! Steam!! Europa has blown a head gasket! 

So I made it a mile from the interstate to a closed down filling station & have been here 36 hrs. Now waiting for the tow truck to show up. 9:30pm tonite.

Tera has driven over from Longview to help me pack out my stuff...it will be 10-14 days before Europa will be ready. 

So the"Saga of Frog" continues! 

Meridian, MS

Had to go into town again..guess what?! The closest Wells Fargo is 90 miles away!! LOL!  So look out Wally World!! The charge free cash machine. Couple of drinks, dump house...and voila....I have cash!!!! LOL!

Enough of that...there are some really cool old "art deco" buildings downtown. The real tall one, if you look behind it...has what had got to be the oldest parking deck I've ever seen! And thankfully it looks like someone is slowly restoring the building.

But, once again, I've forgotten what summer is like down here in the "Deep South"! 11:37 in the morning & the heat index here is already 97°!! Guess we'll hit 105°+ index again today!

Lookout mtns...I'm headed that way SOON!!!

C'ya!! 🐸👍🚐⛺🌞🍻

On the road

Kinda on the road!  Had a "catastrophic hose blow out" just outside meridian, MS. So been sitting since Saturday. Have a mechanic coming out in a little while. Here's hoping it's not too bad.

It's just another chapter in "Frog's Continuing Saga"!   Going to call this chapter "The Europa Incident"! LOL!

👍🐸🚐⛺🌞🍻

We just keep getting wet!

And it just keeps coming!  LOL!

"Cindy" the tropical storm has pretty well passed by. Today we hit 91° here on site...and seeing that the area us close to 5" in extra rain this year already...the humidity outside is horrible!

But my job is much easier now...they've closed the 36th St entrance,and the 35th St entrance is basically right outside my door...so it is front porch security work!

Just 17 more nights...and I'm outta here! 🐸⛺😎

20 Days to Go

Well, it's official, July 9th will be my last duty night here in NC. So at 0600 on July 10th I'll head over to the Firestone store, get tires on Europa...then headed for AL!  Shooting to be in AL by that evening, late. 

Be there 4-6 days, some maintenance work on Europa & Sidekick, time with the kids...then headed to TX. After visiting with everyone there, about first week of August headed to Idaho!

Then it's fishing time for a few weeks! Can hardly wait to get there!

So stay tuned for Frog's Travels...they are about to begin!

C'ya later!

🐸🐸😜😜👍👍⛺⛺

Close to time to go West!!

I'm getting ready to roll out West for the fall! Have a couple of more books to get about Ghost Towns out West to try to get to some of them this fall run.

I've gotten all my Atlases in for  every state West of the Mississippi River.  Plus the Gulf Coast States. 

Been to many days again!  LOL!  But when you're up all nite, your days get really messed up! But the days are passing, thank goodness! Still in Charlotte, have 30 more nites to go! Can't wait!  

So this is just a quick update to let you all know that I'm still going to be headed out West in two months!

I'll close with a few pics of Charlotte.

A Wet Weekend!

This past weekend was a WET weekend here! From Sunday mid-day to Monday evening the area received around 2.25 inches of rain. In in the surrounding areas as much as 4+ inches of rain fell! 

I made getting around the site on the equipment a very difficult task! When the mud gets almost half as high as the wheels on the equipment, it takes a real effort to get from one point to another.

This is a foundation ditch that is being poured for the footing for a section of the wall around the project. It is about 4 feet deep, and as you can tell, Monday afternoon, it was almost to the top of the dug portion with water! It all has to be pumped out and then it needs to dry to a point before they can continue.

Yesterday afternoon they were shooting GypCrete up to the 6th floor for floor areas...and it was all the little Bobcat could do to move around keep the machine fed with sand! 

But in the end of the day... we did have a decent sunset for just a few minutes!

VERY Interesting Read! 🐸

http://theconversation.com/how-world-war-i-ushered-in-the-century-of-oil-74585

WOW!! Something to think about!

http://oilpro.com/post/30769/brazil-black-market-pipeline-gangs-hijack-petrobras-oil-fuel?utm_source=DailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_term=2017-04-04&utm_content=Feature_1_txt

"Never-Ending Man" - A must watch!!

https://youtu.be/vfi_Kl-xZLA

Life Continues On!

The project I currently at is probably not going to have any issues leasing out...it is almost literally sitting on top of a light rail commuter station! 

The rail line is running about 6 mos behind completion...but it is due to factors that are really out of their control. And to make it a little easier to take...the project is running about $57 million under budget! That is just awesome!!  LOL!

There is a kinda decent view from the top of the project. So the apartments that are on the top floors do have fairly decent views. Sunset from the top of the parking deck is actually pretty nice. 

And as I was driving around the other day, there are areas that still have the old city flavor to them. When I go to "shop" (get things that I need...LOL) I actually get to see parts of the city that I would pass up staying on the main roads & highways. This is why I run the back roads just a much as is feasible.

When you get off the main roads you find areas that have either been overlooked/passed over....or areas where the folks living there are not willing to give up their life style. 

But the other thing that I have been noticing here is that there seem to be quite a few places that where they are taking the older buildings/houses and "restoring" them. They are really working in some neighborhoods to "update" the houses and also seem to be updating the land...and it is quite pleasing to the eyes! 

The older houses really do have a lot more character...even the little "plain Jane's" from the 40's to the 60's have a style/flavor all their own.  And it is really a nice feeling to see these older neighborhoods being "resurrected".

And last night we had some pretty good storms pass through here. There were some very high winds and lots of lightening and thunder!  It was glorious!

It's another Friday night in the "NODA" area here...and the music is thumping already! And all the parking spots are basically full! So it will be a long night here! And a cold front is moving in! They are calling for snow here! And I keep coming south to chase the "warm weather"...wonder where it wandered off to!! LOL!

Have a good weekend and looking forward to getting  back on the road one day!

A Peaceful Sunday!!

Today was laundry day, and drive around Charlotte day!!  Got all my laundry done, so that "task" is done for 10-14 days! I hate doing laundry, but can't afford to buy new clothes each week!! But I found a really nice & clean Laundromat about a 15 minute drive from the site. And since I had to go that far...it was also a good reason to make the drive along the back roads and housing areas along the way and have another look at a different part of Charlotte.

 I didn't get any pics of the houses, but as usual, if there is "unoccupied" ground around here, there are apartments! And I mean everywhere around here....

 These apartments are headed into the downtown part of Charlotte, and I really was amazed to find so many buildings that have been fairly recently built in the fashion of the older buildings in the areas. But they are still apartments!

But I am also kind of amazed, still, even with all the traveling that I get to do, and all the different cities that I have traveled through, the majority of the apartment complexes looking amazingly the same, overall!! Even the ones that are going up where I am will, in general, have the same appearance of these above and below! I just really have a hard time understanding how they can all look so similar, and yet as I talk to people, they see so much variation in all these complexes! I just can't see it!!

And as I wandered through the city on my way back to the house...I passed the stadium for the Panthers. It is quite a site...I have to admit that it is a very nice looking building, "Bank Of America Stadium"...but Carolina Panther stuff all over the place!

This post was supposed to go up this past Sunday!  Oooppppssss!  I apparently never hit the publish button!  Sorry!