We're getting there, honest!  What we're really getting is 'hitch itch'!  Yup, we'll be back on the road by the middle of the month.  Meantime, we're also getting more projects done.  In the RV, we've replaced two of our kitchen cupboard doors with matching ones that are longer than the original ones, so they cover some open space that the Terry folks, in all their questionable wisdom, designed to be used for displaying whatever.  Since we needed them for the glasses and bowls, they've been an irritation to me from the day we got the RV, but now they are closed in and no longer my pet peeve.  I'd also been eyeballing a space I was sure didn't have anything of use behind it, and, sure enough!, it was more of Terry's good old 'dead space', there but unusable!  Now, it's a nice cupboard that I can store the extra paper products in, perhaps some cleaning supplies, and it has a nice new door that matches the rest of the cupboard doors in our RV.  How did we accomplish matching doors?  Ha!  We ran across Bulldog Enterprises in Island City, Oregon.  What? You never heard of it?  Don't fret… few people beyond the Blue Mountains have, either.  It's just outside of LaGrande, Oregon, in the north eastern corner of the state.  They have a bit of everything that goes into an RV, and if you can't find it, perhaps they can get it for you.  It's not, however, your typical RV super center…. Quite the contrary. You may have to dig among the piles and piles of doors to find the right ones, but you will find them.  Go to the link I'm giving you for more information.

Soon, we'll be getting the day/night shades we ordered and I'm expecting our new Oregon personalized license plate --  SKP-ING  -- just about any day now.  I know, I know, that's a luxury, but it goes along with my web pages and my web domain name.  Oh, by the way, you can access this site easy enough by typing  either:  www.skp-ing.com  or http://skp-ing.com   Try it, it's easy.  Easy to remember, too, I hope! That was the idea, of course.

Ah, space, sweet storage space!  Only a fellow RVer can fully appreciate having extra storage.  We got this new space, which measures  21" by 27" by 12" for just about $10.00 including the door from Bulldog Enterprises and the hardware.   Can't beat that, can you?

We're ON THE ROAD AGAIN!  Pulled out of Pendleton Friday morning, the 20th, heading east on I-84, through some of our favorite scenery.  Had a good day, heat & all.  Feel kinda picky even mentioning the heat considering how much more suffering the eastern states have been put through recently, but, hey!, 98* is 98*, and that's hot in my book! Got as far as the KOA in Mountain Home, ID for the first night out.  Saturday, more heat, a good day for driving, and we stopped at Pocatello, ID, at the Cowboy RV and Mobile Home Park.  Nice place.  Planned to reach Ft. Bridger on Sunday afternoon and spend two days so we could experience a bit of history we've missed on previous trips.  Remember, I promised to report on the potholes, too.  Well, I'm sorry, but that was not a pothole… even the WY state police and the Lincoln County Sheriff called it 'the grand canyon' of Wyoming! After many miles of newly paved and totally smooth roadway, we approached a small bridge marked by one of those "bump" signs and a 45mile-per-hour sign.  Being extra cautious, Ken says he slowed to 40, but I had to slow to about 35 to keep the same distance behind him in the car (oh, yeah, I'm driving the car & pulling the Honda 1500 on its little Chariot trailer).  When I hit the bump, I thought the bike was going to tip, but it settled down just fine.  However, within seconds I saw a great deal of smoke coming from under the back end of our fifth wheel….not a good sign at all. We were soon joined by a state police cruiser and a Lincoln County Sheriff who is also an RV-er. Ken had already climbed under the back end of the fiver to see what happened, and determined the axles are bent, the tires  rubbing on the chassis of the fiver… in danger of starting a roaring fire if we didn't get them some breathing space.  Twenty five miles back to Montpelier, ID.  Twenty or more to Kemmerer, WY.  Sunday afternoon.  Not much chance of finding help.  Looks like we're on our own!  For five years I've been wondering why Ken thinks it so important to haul around all the 'junque' he has in our truck.  NOW I know!  He reached in for jacks, blocks and wire, with both officers gawking at his complete 'shop' on wheels.  He jacked the fiver up enough to slip blocks into the space between the axles and the frame, increasing the space for the tires to turn without rubbing on the frame.  With that done, we limped the final 20 miles into the Riverside park in Kemmerer.  Nothing much else to do, so we went to dinner, then relaxed for the night.  Monday morning, Ken checked with a truck/auto repair shop right next to the RV Park, found they could put the new axles on if we could get them to town, then started making calls… first to the insurance company, next to Drake's RV Service in Pendleton, then the Goodyear Tire store in Kemmerer.  Looks like Kemmerer is going to host us for the rest of the week.  C'est la vie!  Just glad we caught it before any more damage was done and that neither of us was hurt…  I guess this is all part of the RV-ing experience, and we may as well make the best of it.  So, today we visited the J.C. Penney's mother store… Kemmerer is where Mr. Penney's first store was opened.  This is also home to the Fossil County museum, which we'll visit tomorrow, along with a new library and a few other local sites. 

Ken is shopping for a new tee-shirt at the J.C. Penney's mother store in Kemmerer, WY.  Does anyone remember the old sales transaction transportation device?  How life has changed!

Here's our 'rig'… the Volvo F-7 with the 'shop' I designed to copy the contour of the front of the RV, both in the unfinished state and now, finally, finished with the same siding as the RV.  The shop is fitted inside with Ken's tool boxes and tubs that hold all his 'toys'… a collection of a lifetime!

August 31st.  We end the month in Kemmerer, Wyoming, still waiting for the axles we ordered over a week ago.  Haven't been able to find out if they've even been shipped yet!  We are getting antsy, of course, but otherwise doing fine.  We've been able to use the computers at the new library to retrieve our e-mail.  Ken has gotten one of the best haircuts he's ever had.  I've had time to work on several projects on my computer.  We've visited Ft. Bridger and Fossil Butte National Monument.  I had stocked up on books I wanted to read, and have had plenty of time to do just that!  And, we've certainly been well treated by the citizens of Kemmerer.  The local Coast-to-Coast occupies two floors and houses, besides the standard hardware items, a housewares department, card and gift shop, extensive sewing and crafts departments, and some light snacks and candy!  Pretty interesting place to visit!  Wanting to find some new speakers for the truck while we had time to mess around, we stopped at the Radio Shack store…. NEILSON'S.  It's far more than 'just' a Radio Shack, believe me!  NEILSON'S is a family-owned business that sells, yes!, Radio Shack merchandise, but also furniture, appliances and appliance parts,  lawn and garden tools and accessories, lamps and satelite dishes!  We have thought of getting a satelite dish some day, but NEILSON'S price was incentive enough to make the purchase now, so we'll soon have all the entertainment we could ask for, no matter where we are next!  All in all, it's been a good week.  The only downside, a big one to be sure, is that we had planned to be with our daughter and her family by now, but we'll get there, in time.

Just didn't expect our first pothole to be such a large one, that's all!  We'll get over it, you can be sure!  September's report will be lots better!  Hope all your travels are happy!  Lee