March 26 and 27, 2009

March 26 was a very windy day. We knew it was going to be a bad day so I went out and secured the lawn chairs and checked the satellite to make sure we were secure. No exploring today. DH and I stayed in the fiver and listened to the wind roar and the fiver shake! The wind started in the morning and gradually picked up speed throughout the day.

Just around nightfall, I was surfing the internet when two little furballs began to sit and stare intently at me. That’s their way of letting me know it is time to go out. So, I closed up the laptop and pulled on my fifteen (lol) layers of clothing to prepare for the onslaught of wind and cold. We made it out the door, without loosing the door, and the pups wasted no time in getting their business done. Poor little Belle, I thought I might have to put some diving weights around her to keep her feet on the ground, but she managed ok. I put the furballs back inside and decided to check on things and bad news!! Our satellite dish was down for the count. OUCH!! It had to have happened just before the pups and I headed out the door cause I had just been online minutes ago. We have never had the satellite blow over before, we came close once but we caught it in time. I really thought we were in good shape here. I thought it was well anchored and it was at the front of the fiver, actually sheltered from a good part of the wind. DH says the wind changed direction at some point and the weather folks said we were having gusts over 70 mile an hour. I gave DH a holler and together we took the dish and radio arm off and stowed them in the back of the truck. In the morning we would assess for damage.

Back inside we watched a little tv and then headed off to bed. Not the best of nights for sleeping the wind continued well into the wee-hours........

Up and at it early this morning, March 27. The wind had finally died down, but it was a bit on the chilly side.....I think somewhere in the 40s this am. We had breakfast and decided to head into the town of Wickenburg for a few grocery supplies and a hardware store. DH wanted to replace the rings and chains at the base of the satellite tripod. We were successful on both our missions and were back at the fiver in no time.

Upon further inspection of the satellite we found that the bracket which holds the radio arm and feed horn secure was broken in two places. We called Maxwell Satellite (these are the folks we purchased the unit from) and they were sorry to inform us that they do not sell parts. They actually had 4 of those brackets salvaged from other units, but apparently I was the fifth person to call this afternoon with this problem. I was outta luck. They did tell us it was ok to try and glue the thing back together with epoxy. So, DH went back to the hardware store and purchased the epoxy. He carefully glued the bracket pieces back together. We will let them sit overnight and see what happens tomorrow....

So, you may be wondering how it is that I am updating my blog. Well, the park here offers Tango Internet. You can purchase it by the day, week, month or year. We decided to go ahead and purchase 7 days for a cost of $14.00---not to bad. That way we have internet for the rest of our stay. I have already been searching for replacement parts for the satellite. The fact that the satellite fell hard enough to break the bracket suggests to us that the radio arm and or feed horn may be damaged as well. They both look ok, but looks can be deceiving......tomorrow will tell the story. DH even has me looking into the used Datastorm market. So, everyone reading this please keep your fingers crossed for us---hoping it is only the bracket that is damaged.

I did managed to have some fun today. Some of the ladies here at the park have a beading day at the activities center. It was today, so I went over to check it all out. I was surprised to find not only the beaders, but also a ‘mini bead shop’ set up. Apparently one of the gals here has her own bead shop. I don’t know if she runs it out of her home here at the park or if she has a place in town. It was great fun to look at all the different beads and projects. Yes, I did buy a few beads to add to my growing collection. A gals gotta keep here spirits up ya know.....:)

With the chilly weather, I also found time to bake a few dozen chocolate chip cookies. I almost half expected Howard to come knocking on my door at just the right time like he did in Benson, but alas no Howard. So, I loaded up a plate and took it round to some of the neighbors.

That’s about it for today........we will see what tomorrow brings...