It’s been three years since the youtube channel for Roaming Raven RV was updated. I released a new video on it recently, and will begin using it again. I am a nomad, author, writer, podcaster, and will use the channel for an assortment of vlogging my life activities. Including uploading footage that is a couple of years old but still good for the soul.
Roaming Raven RV no longer has it’s own website and will use this site to keep up-to-date news posted.
I invite you to visit the Clubhouse app and join us as we listen to a subliminal every night at 7:00 p.m. eastern that encourages writing 5,000 words a day. The Clubhouse club is Author Apprentices.
Life is challenging, whether you are in an apartment, house, or RV motorhome. I, finally, found a shop that had the knowledge to fix Lucy the Shark. The suspension is being repaired, she is getting an alignment and new brakes. According to Paul at Acme Springs in Dayton, Ohio, she will be returned to me sometime this week. He has been super about keeping me updated.
The riverfront campsite I rented for the year, I won’t be renting next year. Jim, successfully sold the campground last Friday and the new owners will take full possession on October 11. Tonya, the new owner informed me last night they wanted to ‘rent’ my site, that I have a yearly contract and paid a year in advance, to overnighters since I was not using it. Excuse me? After explaining my rig was in the shop, she got even more snippy about why I wouldn’t allow her to rent my spot to temporary overnighters. Needless to say, I won’t renew my contract with these folks.
While that sounds icky and sour, I am not. I was taken aback by her attitude, but in my world, something better is coming along. Originally I wanted closer to my girls during the summer and will begin looking in the one-hour travel time area today.
The improvements with Lucy are beyond groovy. The fifty-five-inch television is totally hidden within the cabinet that still needs painting. Then the living room will be totally done except for a throw rug. Joe and Cleo love the couch.
Remember the wobbly driver’s seat? Well, the new pedestal arrived and is ready for install when Acme Springs is done with Lucy’s new suspension and brakes. I decided to wait on actual new captain chairs for now.
Moving into the bedroom area, all curtains and decor have arrived. I’ll paint the walls, but not the woodwork.
Oh, you may or may not know, Jeeps have Easter Eggs. For example, my #2 daughter’s C-7 has a spider embossed in the gas tank door and a lizard someplace else. This gave me the idea to put USN and Shark-themed puffy stickers in out-of-the-way, fun places for the grandchildren to discover on their visits with Grammy. Oh yeah, the four-year-old sings Grammy Shark when she visits.
Will I repaint the Shark? Yes. She is fun and draws attention, but the paint is flaking and I will need to repaint her next year. My focus this year was getting her upgraded for me to travel in. I’m thinking cream and blue for the exterior. Although, I did consider a vinyl wrap, except they only last about seven years.
Let me know your thoughts about future improvements. Photos of the interior will arrive when she is returned to me and we get settled at the river.
These last couple of exciting months have provided me with the sale of my old class C RV and a new-to-me RV. As some of you know from my meanderings, in 2017 I was suppose to purchase a Class A Rexall that my friend had renovated and that fell through when she decided to keep it. It had the floor plan I dreamed of and zero slide-ins to have anything go wrong. Then 2021 came along and another buddy had a lifestyle change and decided to sell her RV. I hired Vagabond RV Solutions to do an inspection and bought my airline ticket to go retrieve my new to me RV with slide outs. My old class C sold in less than two days after I put it on Facebook Marketplace. I had my license plates in hand and ready to get my new home. Well, my luck did not hold out and she reneged on the sale two days before my scheduled flight making me houseless.
On the upside of things, I have an RV site on the river for my spring/summer time in Ohio. I love my spot on river. When it rains on the river and floods, I will then move to my home in the hollow or travel. So far, I haven’t spent any time on the river due to decorating and making the RV I did purchase mine.
Things really looked sad in June when things were falling apart left and right. I’m so glad I took the set backs in stride and began looking again. My eldest says, “Mom, let’s go look at this one.” I told her I was looking for a condo and not a quan set hut. Then we went to see what this offered.
Ignoring the custom paint job, I viewed the interior. It is not the Rexall, but it is a close runner up. The floor is wood plank.
The front seats swivel for additional seating. The fold out table against the wall at one time had a chair beside it. The TV is the Panasonic in the cockpit dash. The walls and upholstery were denim blue-gray. I felt as if I had stepped on to a USN ship once again.
Fast forward. I bought it after I had my mechanic check it over. Now, unlike the Class C, he can not work on it because it is 34 feet long and a tri-axle. It has a Chevy workhorse chassie and a 454 engine, plus an aluminum frame and roof. It is a 1990 Holiday Rambler Imperial, that sports a custom paint job in a classic rendition of the WW2, Bomber aircraft.
Say hello to Lucy Shark, and her theme song is the verse: Grammy Shark, doo doo doo doo doo.
Next Blog post will be a tour inside of her since I have made her mine.
Joe, our birthday boy lives a nomad life. He travels and enjoys his siestas and trotting in circles. Each evening he takes a walk with his sister, Cleo while she zooms after their friend, Harley.
And Joe, what did you do today?
“I like sleeping late. Silly Cleo began trying to wake me and get huMom to take us outside in the dark. There are dangerous things in the dark. Last night a skunk came through our campsite. I hid my nose, his fragrance stunk.” Joe closed his eyes as if bored.
Did anything else exciting happen?
“Cleo began singing and she hums. I added additional bark to the choir practice. Sometimes I actually harmonize. Harley, the big girl dog from next door came out and I’d like to becomes friends but her huMom said she doesn’t like little dogs. I am anything but little. I weigh in at 7 lbs 1 oz.” He raised his head and crossed his front legs.
That does sound fun and frustrating. How long have you been able to sing?
“Cleo taught me after I was adopted as her brother. It took a while, I wasn’t really sure how she was able to howl. I like to yap in time with her singing.” He got up from his pillow and turned around to get into a better position.
Do you bark a lot?
“Cleo and I are on guard a lot. There are so many things that try to get my huMom. Not all people have good intentions. It’s Cleo and my responsibility to scare those people away. My huMom tells me to use my inside voice a lot. She wants me to growl instead of actually bark. That’s so annoying. I would have to growl twenty-four seven to keep her notified of all things.” He rolled to his side.
What adventures have you been on this winter?
“Cleo told you the highlights yesterday. After the New Year’s Eve bash. we headed to the hot springs with two of her new friends. One was Harley’s huMom and they continued to caravan with us for the rest of the winter. HuMom was in a party mode and we headed to the Par T R next. That’s where she met a prospector and his friends. We headed to north of Kingman to the prospector claim. And Cleo and I met, Wiley Coyote. He wasn’t a real coyote, those are dangerous. Wiley is a good friend of mine. HuMom’s furnace died and we condensed to a small area to sleep in the RV and heat it with a small heater. Mike the prospector gave huMom a tank to run it or we would have had to leave early. When Wiley’s huMom had to visit her mom, the packing to travel again began. I’m pretty content in my own little world of guarding huMom and sleeping. Our uneventful return to Quartzsite became interesting when I saw my huMan friend Don along with Harley and her huMom. Harley’s huMom helped my huMom to tear the bunk over the cab apart. It was yucky due to it being wet. The huMan didn’t fix it correctly and huMom had to re-do it herself. Then my world changed. I didn’t think Cleo and I were going to get fed ever again.” Joe’s eyes were as big as saucers.
Do tell what happened?
“huMom fell through the plastic step we used to get into the RV and fell to the ground. She didn’t jump back up and joke about being a clutz. My huMan friend Don came running over to keep Cleo and me from jumping on her to wake her up. She may not have been asleep but she wasn’t moving which was unlike her. We wanted to get to her face and make sure she was alright. Harley’s huMom held on to his kitty, Lilith and Harley stood by watching too. It was a good thing huMan Don was there to help huMom into our RV. She couldn’t walk. The humans packed her in ice, elevated her foot, gave her food and visited several times a day. It was exhausting. I had to growl to let them know she was still injured and needed rest. Nine days later she was able to go to the Veterans hospital to get x-rayed. The humans were happy. She was gone all day and it was stressful. What if she didn’t come back? Who would feed us, or walk us, or let us run outside? Her friends gave her many gifts that allowed her to walk, they were funny she was 4-legged too. Now, we are happy and feel secure again. She can feed us, walk us, hold and pet us, chase Cleo with a brush. Eww I don’t like the brush either. We are on another adventure. But there are no campers around us. Cleo and I like that. We can watch the bunnies, maybe chase them if our leads are long enough. And we go trick or treating every night. Each evening it’s Halloween and we get treats from Harley’s huMom.
Cleo, our birthday gal lives the life of a nomad. She travels and enjoys romping and zoomies. At dusk, she and her friends go trick or treating to the various campsites that offer evening treats to the trio.
So Cleo, what did you do today?
“I wanted Harley, my new best romping buddy, to come out and zoom with me before the sun came up. My huMom told me no. Can you believe it? Here I am celebrating my eight birthday and she won’t just let me run loose in the desert. Of course, Harley and I would have chased that large rabbit that lurks around in the morning hours.” Cleo ran in circles barking.
Did anything else exciting happen?
“Joe, my younger brother, and I had choir practice. I wanted it to wake Harley so her huMom would allow her outside to run and play. We finally got too. Harley came zooming at me and rolled me over. I got up and shook it off, ready to zoom again.” She laid down and scratched her ear.
That does sound fun and exhausting. How long have you been able to sing?
“I’ve howled and crooned since I was a puppy. Joe still has trouble but he gives it a good go every day about 10:00 a.m. I am trying to teach Harley, but she’s a boxer-boston terrier mix and so far she barks real deep.” Laid at the front door and watched for Harley to look out her front door.
Do you bark a lot?
“I am on guard a lot. There are so many things that try to get my huMom. Sometimes it is other dogs with a leash attached to their huMan or huMom’s, or bicycles, motorcycles, and some times silly kitties that wear a harness and attached to a huMan. My huMom tells me to use my inside voice a lot. She wants me to growl instead of actually bark.” She rolled over to her side.
What adventures have you been on this winter?
“Let’s see, We’ve been to the Great Tetons with Jazzman and her sidekick, Sherbert. After seeing the buffalo, paint pots, and geysers, we headed to Pocatello. We stayed at a couple of casinos along the way and met my huMom’s best friend from her time in San Fransico. She had a fun daughter that took us for a walk around the parking lot while the huMom’s visited. Then we were off to Oregon. There were many fun camping areas and one very peculiar one. We parked with cars so close to us we had to be careful opening our door. In the evening, they put more cars around us and closed this big gate and locked it. Each morning, they pulled the cars out and worked on them and we would take a walk while they raised our home up on a rack to work on. Very peculiar. Oh, and then we camped by the ocean, and in the mountains, at a winery and traveled on up into Washington. After traveling throughout the northwest, we headed south through Nevada and landed in Quartzsite, Arizona. I had been there before, but this time my friend Teddy didn’t show up nor his huMom and I made new friends.
“Did I tell you, Harley, Joe and I go trick or treating? Each evening it is Halloween and we get treats from the neighbor aka Harley’s huMom. There are no other campers around us anymore. I gotta go, it’s trick or treating time.” Woof woof, Cleo
Here’s me chasing Rooster and NO! I am not showing you him chasing me…geez
This past month continued being riddled with unexpected RV issues. Yellowstone National Park delivered eye candy galore. Bison and Old Faithful along with the Painting Pots delighted my imagination.
Dispersed camping in the Grand Teton National Park with friends made the experience more enjoyable. Follow me on Instagram: RoamingRavenRV and RoamingRaven.com for photos. The videos will go up on YouTube as soon as I can get it edited to a higher standard than my past.
For a USD $1 a month on Patreon.com/RoamingRavenRV, I post lens’ several times a day and other up-to-the current time postings.
AuthorApprentices is also on Patreon. Their blog is free on Patreon. The video content is extra.
Small Bit of Justice is in the final stages. It is on my ‘to-do’ list to have it published by the end of September. This revision took longer than I originally thought. I just had a thought, I’ll toss up some deleted scenes for your reading pleasure.
This is short and sweet, but I’m still putting in many hours a day on Small Bit of Justice with the goal of it being available this month.
A lot happened this past month. I celebrated my two youngest daughters’ birthdays, fixed a flat on the RV and headed west. For a more in-depth look at my RV life and its recent challenges visit RoamingRaven.com.
The recovery of the author interviews on the external hard drive, that went swimming in the dog’s water dish, was a 95% recovery. The layering of the video is now in production. Tim Smith’s is in the final stages.
Mountain Bookfest canceled. Since Renee and I had several hard copies of “The Missing Locket” we gave the copies away in exchange for reviews. Ten ARC readers of “The Missing Locket” report, they want more. Yet, they have not left a review on Amazon in exchange for reading the novelette. If it is as good as they tell Renee and me, how will others know unless they leave a review on Amazon? The frustrations of being an author.
For a dollar a month, you can support Cleo and Joe’s dog bone habit on Patreon. You will receive several lens clips from us each day, and video, postings, etcetera not public on Instagram or YouTube.
Do you really live in an RV? Why, yes I do. I’ve lived in an RV for a couple of years now. Recently I moved back on to the farm while repairs are made. Some might say well then you don’t really live in an RV… I would have to disagree because of eight percent of my time is spent on the road. I’ve had renters that lived on the farm, and now it is my time to fix and repair before I hit the road again.
It does seem odd to me not moving daily, weekly, or at least a couple of times a month. This fall and winter, I will be taking short trips here and there. Always returning to finish projects that are in process. Currently, the bathroom is under construction including an actual new tub.
After this project, then I’ll begin in the master bathroom and rehang the door, change paneling and add new curtains. I know the rooms I want to remodel. I’m waiting on each room to let me know how they want to be designed. I know it sounds a bit weird, but the bathroom my ideas just wouldn’t become concrete as to what I wanted to do. Now they are very solid as well as the colors.
My thoughts on the current bathroom remodel. I would like the long wall corrugated barn siding galvanized metal and each end a white fiberglass. The tub is white. The walls will have a wallpaper above a faux wainscoting and all colors will be white, sand, turquoise and accents of a navy. I’m excited to see it finished and thoughts becoming things of beauty.
The RV is parked until my next trip. I do love to travel, meet new folks, and see new sites. In 2019 I want to make it to a couple of writers conferences and return to New Orleans again. Until next time…
Sometimes the website minions are against you and you lose a decade of blog posts. Singing a slightly off-key, well okay a Lot off-key, “Here we go again…”
