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Jun 7th Camping Season – The Perils of Getting a Late Start

Can you believe it’s camping season again? Seems it was just Christmas and winter. Hey, wait a minute, it was just winter, Colorado had significant snow through April and into the first weeks of May. My daffodils, crocus and tulips did their best even through the snow.

Snow and winter weather made us late de-winterizing (is that even a word?) our fifth wheel trailer and truck. Uncovering the trailer in the wind was an experience in itself. Imagine a thirty-foot long, thirteen foot high cover billowing in twenty-five mph wind as you try to fold it up. Nearly took me off my feet (Dorthy from OZ swirls through my mine) as my hubby shouts, “Fold it the other way. ”Yeah, right, I could if I could get it on the ground,” I retorted, my words swallowed up by the wind. What’s the use of a good retort when no one hears. Kinda like that question, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it still make a sound?

Any way I digress. While parking the fifth wheel in the driveway, a strong odor of fuel permeated my nostrils, I looked under the truck and saw a steady stream of liquid puddling below the vehicle. Peering at my husband I said, “Is that supposed to be happening?” I point under the truck to the leaking fuel. “#*#? no,” he said.

After a tirade of not nice words from under the truck, my hubby ascertained the fuel pump was leaking. Okay, so you think, no big deal, just get it fixed. Right?” No way! Because my hubby trusts no one to work on his vehicles, especially brakes and fuel system, he spent Memorial Day Weekend draining a thirty six gallon gas tank. Of course we’d just filled it. He pulled the tank out and replaced the fuel pump. That done, the tank back in place, we took truck and trailer to a tire store for 8 new tires all around. Bank account drained, we brought the vehicles back and parked them in the driveway, much to the chagrin of our homeowners association (that’s a whole different story). People who don’t own an RV should never decide how long it takes to get ready. Still had to de-winterize the trailer, and get it ready for camping.

Hubby crawls under the trailer only to find a bolt holding the slide-out mechanism sheared off. What a disaster if we’d been going down the highway. Thank goodness we weren’t. Hubby sprinted downstairs to his ton of important stuff that fills the basement and found exactly the bolt he needed. Then proceeded to remind me that’s why he keeps all the junk I bitch about. Okay… enough said. Further inspection and the trailer ground brace is loose, another trip in the basement and taa daa a can of screws and the brace is repaired.

Kayaks loaded, truck full of fuel (not leaking), trailer packed with human, dog, parrot and turtle necessities

Steamboat Lake

we’re ready. Let the camping adventures begin. On our agenda this year, Steamboat Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Lake Vallecito, Twin Lakes in San Isabell National Forest, and Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Note to self: Next year regardless of what Mother Nature throws at us, the fifth wheel comes out of storage in April.

Oh, by the way, I figured you’d rather look at pictures of places we’ve camped, rather than repairs in our driveway made this year. Was I right?

Where are you going? Did you have as much trouble getting ready as we did? I’d love to hear from you! Next week, we’ll check out favorite camping spots.

Posted in Camping, For Fun, My Say What Blog and tagged Adventures, camping, Fifth wheel, repairs, Rocky Moutian National Park, Steamboat Lake, Twin Lakes by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Apr 4th Finally, Mother Nature Found Her Calendar – Spring Has Sprung!

Here in Colorado, the Month of March came in and went out like a lion. Several inches of snow several times, blizzard conditions, and cold. My poor crocus looked like they’d died in the last blizzard of the month.

But low and behold, they revived and look great. Yeah!

Over the weekend, after Mother Nature finally found her calendar, we were able to prep the garden soil, plant kale, carrots, spinach, and sweet basil. I also tried an experiment and planted a few tomato seeds outside in the garden. What’s different this year? I have hoops and covers for my garden, the covers are of three different weights. Heavy weight for now, since it’s still freezing at night. Medium weight and light weight for protection from the Colorado hail that devastated my garden last year. I’ll see which one stands the test of hail, pounding and wind driven rain. LOL

Inside the sunroom, I started tomato plants and pumpkins. If I can keep them from getting spindly, they’ll go into the garden in May after Memorial Day. Never safe to plant flowers or veggies outside before Memorial Day, frost or snow will get them every time. Not to mention we have had snow in July. Gardening in the Rocky Mountains is always a challenge! But one I gladly take on for the reward of fresh veggies and tomatoes that don’t taste like cardboard. Know what I mean?

Working in the sun and fresh air was wonderful, and because there was very little wind, made it even better. Parrot, dog and turtle joined us in a supervisory capacity. Talk about too many bosses and not enough workers. LOL

Got a little color on my face and arms, even with sunscreen, curse of being blonde and fair skinned. Wore shorts for the first time this year and I didn’t even get cold. Yep, spring has sprung and summer is headed our way.

Now back to the keyboard. I have a new book to finish, the second in the Demon’s Witch Series. Waiting on a release date for A Witch’s Journey, hopefully early summer, and turned in A Witch’s Holiday Wedding, sequel to A Witch’s Journey to my editor at the Wild Rose Press a week ago, we’ll see how it goes.

Well, that’s how my world spins and how I spent my weekend. How did you spend yours? Leave me a message you know you want to. I love hearing from readers and authors alike!

Posted in For Fun and tagged books, Colorado, flowers, Gardening, Rocky Mountains, snow by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.

Mar 15th Saint Patrick’s Day Fun Facts

#1 Did you know that we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day on the day of the saint’s death, March 17th. He spent most his life converting pagans of Ireland to Christianity. His entrance to heaven was March 17, 461AD.

#2. How about this, St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish, nor was he born in Ireland. His parents were Roman citizens living in either England, Scotland or Wales, the scholars can’t agree which country, there’s something unusual, NOT.

#3. Here’s a shocker, Saint Patrick was a slave. He had the misfortune of being kidnapped at sixteen years old by Irish raiders. They sold him as a slave. For several years he herded sheep and learned about the Irish people. By age twenty-two, he’d escaped and made his way to a monastery in England.

#4. Ever wonder why the shamrock became part of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations? Because, Saint Patrick used the shamrock to preach about trinity. Now whether it was supposed to represent faith, hope and love or the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, remains a mystery. However, St Patrick must have been quite the inspirational speaker because Ireland’s pagan rulers at the time quickly converted to Christianity.

#5. Supposedly, St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland. But I have to ask, if it was the reptiles “snakes” referred to or… a more figurative reference meaning pagan practices and their religious beliefs. I find it interesting to note that there isn’t any evidence that snakes, the reptile, ever existed in Ireland. Seems the weather is too cool for snakes to survive. This is all conjecture on my part, having never been to Ireland, but it’s on my bucket list!

#6. Everyone knows the color associated with St. Patrick’s Day is Green. Right? Not so fast. Originally the color blue represented St. Patrick. He was depicted in artwork wearing blue vestments. Also King Henry VII used the Irish harp in gold on a blue flag to represent the country. However, now days green is associated with Ireland, maybe due to the plentiful rainfall, creating the green countryside. Today, many refer to Ireland as the “Emerald Isle”.

#7. Nope, the Shamrock is not the symbol of Ireland. Surprised you didn’t I? Actually, since the medieval period, the harp has represented the nation. King Henry VII as early as 1534 used the harm on coins. Later the harp appeared on Irish flags, and Irish coats of arms. During Ireland’s struggle for freedom, the Irish people used harps on flags during rebellions against England. In 1921, Ireland became an independent county and adopted the harp as the national symbol.

#8. Did you know there are more Irish in the United States than in Ireland? ‘Tis true. No blarney. They may not all be pure-blood Irish, but of Irish ancestry just the same. Mixed ancestry could be due to the troubled history of Ireland and millions of Irish left the county for the US during the potato famine in Ireland. This exodus continued through most of the 19th century until the economic boom of the 1990’s, when more Irish stayed in their native country rather than searching for better opportunities abroad.

#9. What is your drink of choice on St. Patrick’sDay? A Shamrock milkshake? Green Beer? Bet you didn’t know that from 1903 to 1970, Irish law declared St. Patrick’s Day a religious holiday. That meant that all the pubs were shuttered for the day. In 1970 the law was overturned and St. Patrick’s became a national holiday, allowing the beer to flow once again.

#10. Bet you don’t know what the odds of finding a four-leaf clover are. I do, approximately 1 in 10,000.

Posted in For Fun and tagged Green Beer, Ireland, Irish, Shamrock, St. Patrick's Day by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.

Feb 1st It’s Party Time!

mavp2016 This year has been a blast so far. After mega hours at the computer and too many phone redials to count, finally got most our camping reservations for spring and summer set. Still missing the elusive Rocky Mountain National reservations, but I’ll get ’em. Love that place and apparently so do thousands of others from around the world! I’ll be blogging about new camping spots we found in the next couple of months.

I am celebrating with The Romance Reviews, they have more than 300 participating authors and publishers, and more than 300 prizes up for grabs during the whole month of February. Grand prize is $200 Amazon Gift Certificate! Plus over $300 Gift Certificates and more than 300 book giveaways! What are you waiting for, get over there. You are not going to want to miss this!

Charm Me will be featured on the center of the The Romance Reviews Party Event Page from February 8-12th with a chance to win an ebook for the right answer to a question about Charm Me appearing on February 18th.

You’ll need to register at TRR and log in before you play the games for prizes, to keep track of your points for each game. Registration is free an easy.

Here it is February 1st, huge fluffy white snow flakes are falling, there’s six inches of wet white stuff on the ground and counting. No can’t be measured in feet… yet. We’ll be able to use our snowblower for the fourth time this year. Bought it three years ago, used it only once until this year. Little did I know that’s how to moderate the snow in Colorado. Got snowblower, no snow. Kinda like washing your car in the summertime, it’s guaranteed to rain. LOL Remember camping season is right around the corner! Ok, maybe a long, long corner. Stay warm and safe.