Wow, I can’t believe our stay in Phoenix has already come to an end. The past two plus weeks have flown by. We even extended our stay at Lake Pleasant by a couple of days because we just weren’t ready to leave.
As usual, the desert sunsets did not disappoint. Since our days were filled and thus we were kept pretty busy, it was always a treat to relax in the evening and enjoy the view over a drink.
So what kept us so busy? Well, the new couch lead to a few other projects; some necessary and some just for fun. The just for fun projects started with removing the wallpaper border which I found outdated, unnecessary, and simply didn’t like.
Although tedious, it was a fairly simple job that required a little muscle to pull and peel off the wallpaper border. Any left behind adhesive was easily removed with soap and water.
Next up was installing a tile backsplash around the stove. I didn’t feel I had a lot of options as I don’t believe in using ‘real’ tile in a RV. After a bunch of research I went with the “Smart Tiles”. Basically they are a resin/plastic based peel and stick product that is flexible.
I know a lot of RV’s out there have beautiful ceramic tile installed and it looks great. However, the home builder in me emerges and I just can’t help but feel it’s just a matter of time before cracks develop in real tile and grout. A ridged, breakable product installed in a moving object just doesn’t seem to compute in my mind.
I recall a fellow RV’er once saying, “We live in a rolling earthquake”, and boy was she right.
Next up, we had some necessary maintenance done which we enlisted the help of professionals. We took the RV over to Little Dealer Little Prices and had the wheel bearings repacked. This is something that should be done about every 10,000 to 12,000 miles or every one to two years and we were definitely pushing it. So I’d say we were a little overdue.
There’s a lot of maintenance Al and I do ourselves, but repacking the wheel bearings is a messy job that we felt best left to the professionals that have the facility and equipment to tackle the job properly.
And while the RV was in the shop, we had the waste tank release mechanisms reworked. Our release levers worked on a cable system, which I think is the most ridiculous asinine method ever developed. It sure is a crappy situation when one of those cables decides to break 😉 The new levers are fantastic and offer piece of mind.
Once out of the shop, Al and I went to work on some other household maintenance. Al cleaned out the ‘basement’ and reorganized. Any items we felt we wouldn’t need over the next few months would be stored over at our son’s home. Let’s lighten the load! While Al (at least part of him) was in the basement, I was on the roof with the caulking gun touching up. After all, our journey would be taking us from the dry arid desert to the moist Gulf coast.
Our time in Phoenix, Arizona, wasn’t all work. We managed to incorporate plenty of visits with our son and several get together’s with fellow RVer’s.
And did I already mention the fabulous sunsets? I could get used to these views.
Saturday we enjoyed dinner with our son and hugged him and my little red truck goodbye for a few months. My Tacoma is safely parked in our son’s garage while we head off to the Texas Gulf Coast.
The Texas journey begins ……
Live Laugh RV 
What gorgeous sunsets!
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Thank you…. I can’t seem to get enough of them 🙂
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Those are beautiful sunsets! I don’t understand real tile and grout in an RV either.
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Yep, those AZ sunsets are the best 🙂
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Never a dull moment! It’s great that you and hubby can work together as a team. I’m impressed to see you up on the roof. 🙂 The rainbow image is so gorgeous. Have fun in Texas. 🙂
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Hubby and I work pretty well together each with our own specialty – mine being painting and caulking 😉 Our journey to the Gulf has started with some fun stops along the way. Now if only I could focus on writing LOL.
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Getting to those little house projects can be difficult with our lifestyle. I never seem to have time to even vacuum (you know there is always a hike with an arch or saguaro out there ). But it sure feels good to finally clean out the bays and cabinets. I like your new back splash!! Good job on that roof caulking:)
So glad that you got to spend some time with your son:) Your son/daughter posts are very much like ours! Nice of him to keep your truck. Won’t it be nice to travel together for a while!?
Love those gorgeous sunsets:)
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It’s always wonderful spending time with the kids…. gotta grab it where we can. It is a lot more convenient traveling with the one truck but there are times when we’re a bit more stationary we love having that second vehicle around especially since it’s smaller and perfect for those 4×4 back roads around Moab or Colorado 🙂
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Those AZ sunsets never disappoint, do they? Love your choice of backsplash Ingrid. Safe travels on your trip to Texas. Looking forward to seeing some interesting bird photos once you get settled in. 🙂
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No LuAnn those sunsets do not disappoint. The backsplash turned out ok and now I’m struggling with fabrics. So further remodeling is temporarily on hold. Besides, I have some exploring to do. Right now we’re at Rock Hound SP in NM awaiting the sunset 🙂
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😀
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The Arizonia sunsets are stunning. Can’t wait to see them for myself.
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They are the best 🙂
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Beautiful sunset, we’re going to pick your brains about Lake Pleasant when we see you in TX, planning on a AZ winter next year. Great job with the tiles, if we were in a S&B I’d love to get some of the glass ones but the smart tiles really do add a nice touch in an rv. Asinine method for a crappy situation, yep that would be the cable system, nice you got it taken care of before a dire situation arose. Safe travels…
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I think you had a similar cable system on your first fiver if I remember. We’re so much happier with the new system that was installed. We can certainly offer up a bunch of suggestions regarding AZ and CO. Looking forward to a few visits on Mustang Island in Dec. 🙂
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I read this yesterday and went bonkers over that sunset… I commented using my Tab and thought I should check if it came through when on my laptop…. horror it had not… I hope this has not happened on all the other comments I made…
Love to see you hard at work doing RV repairs… now that’s what I call a well trained wife…
enjoyed the post as always…as for the photography.??? Brilliant…
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I don’t even try to do blog stuff on my iPad. I stick with the laptop. I like to let hubby think I’m ‘well trained’…. but we all know who’s the one trained 😉 And awe thanks for the compliment on my photos!
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Ugh! I was in the middle of correcting my typo in the first sentence (typing on my iPhone) when it suddenly posted. As I was saying, it looks great. And your sunset photos are fantastic! Mike and I can’t wait to do a little cleaning in our storage areas, too. We know that we carry a lot of unnecessary weight in the rig. Well, have fun in Texas!
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That’s why I stick with the laptop 😉 It feels good to be traveling with things cleaned and organized. We’ve left AZ and currently in NM until Sunday. The fun has already started 🙂
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It looks great on with the wallpaper trim gone. Even from the little bit of wall visible in your kitchen picture, I can see how nice that looks. You’ve got a good eye for remodeling!
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Removing that wallpaper made a huge positive difference. I’m not sure about that ‘eye’ …. my first fabric purchase for the chairs didn’t work out so well. Oh, it was beautiful fabric and went well in here but it had a very traditional feel and I’m trying to go for a more modern feel. Oh well, we’ll put the redecorating on hold and focus on our travels. I believe there are some trails with my name on them just waiting to be explored 🙂
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Wow…now those are some very beautiful sunsets. Those photos should be in frames hanging on your wall!
I am glad you told us it wasn’t all work because it definitely sounded like it was. The backsplash looks lovely.
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Thank you Marsha, now if only I had some walls LOL.
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I’m so happy to see you remembered my comment about the RV as being in a constant earthquake when traveling. Loved your comment about the “crappy” set up for your septic. It looks like you’re getting a lot of stuff redone and I look forward to seeing all the changes when our paths cross again.
Are you guys planning to attend the Escapade in Tucson this year? We signed up for it – those seminars will have much more meaning to me now with some experienced under our belts.
We’re also attending Boomerville and I’m looking forward to making new friends and hopefully seeing old ones as well.
Isn’t this life just the greatest!
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I have to double check the dates again for the Escapade in Tucson. Our plans for Feb and Mar seem to be in a constant state of flux right now. I definitely look forward to running into you guys again some where along the road 🙂
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Wow! Those sunsets are awesome!
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I sure never saw sunsets like this in the Midwest…. pretty spectacular and I don’t get tired of viewing them.
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Wow, that was a truly impressive sunset in that first picture! We have had some very nice ones lately, too. Safe travels on your way to your place in Texas. Hope you have time to make a few stops at some new places on the way, too. Weather has been gorgeous here! Indian Summer is hanging on a bit longer than normal. 🙂
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We are definitely taking the journey slow and checking out some places along the way. Your posts have been helpful. I hope the lovely weather holds out for us and I can enjoy a beautiful Texas sunset 🙂
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I m holding my breath it will be awhile till I enjoy my desert sunsets. Your gorgeous sunset captures will just suffice for now.
Im truly impressed with your skills, I certainly don’t have those abilities.
Looking forward to see your redecorating and inside make over.
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“Don’t have those abilities”…. seriously? You will be duly scolded when I see you LOL. The redecorating will be on going as I can’t seem to find the right fabrics to reupholster. All in due time 🙂
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Ingrid, I am so jealous of the fist sunset picture…WOW! Love it! They are all good but that one took my breath away. I am enjoying your “illustrated tales”!
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Thank you. Do you write a blog? When I click on your name it doesn’t give me any additional info/link.
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Yes, my blog is Life is a Marathon, not a sprint at http://runningmemaw.blogspot.com/ … Thank you for asking!
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Wow, spectacular Arizona sunsets! How did you know I need tile backsplash, Ingrid? This is exactly the colors I want 🙂
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Yes, those sunsets are the best. Although I’m happy with these tiles in the RV, I don’t think I’d use anything but the real deal in a stationary home. My gosh, there were so many great mosaics at Lowe’s and Home Depot, I ‘almost’ missed having a sticks n bricks house…. almost!
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Loving your captures – the sky has been putting on quite a show out west – beautiful sunrises and sunsets and here on Saturday there was more than one rainbow that afternoon 🙂 Safe Travels – Happy Day!
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Thanks Renee…. we had some incredible skies during our stay. It’ll be totally different along the coast where I’ll focus on the morning sunrises and fog – another fave 🙂
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I am with you in loving the show the coast puts on too 🙂 Love the Northern California Coast the BEST!
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Ah, I will most definitely need to put a priority on a visit to Northern Cal. Sounds too tempting to pass.
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YES to putting it on your list – a MUST 🙂
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Yep…those Arizona sunsets are something to behold!!! Say hello to the Texas coast for me!
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I hear some of the whoopers have already shown up in Texas so I’ll be sure and say ‘hey’ from one whooper to another 🙂
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We also put on some of those stick on “tiles” behind our stove and alongside our dish washing area. Easy peasy!
I’ll be looking forward to your TX posts as we are headed out there in Feb/Mar. Perhaps our paths will cross at some point!
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I’ll definitely keep you posted on our where abouts. We have no plans for Feb but do plan on being back in AZ in March. So who knows, we may bump into each other in New Mexico 🙂
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It’s so satisfying to take care of those home improvement projects! Love your new tile backsplash — I’m planning to do the same thing in our trailer, hopefully next month. I agree with you about not using ceramic tile and grout in an RV — were the tiles you used easy to cut and install? Amazing sunset photo!!
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The tiles were super easy to work with. All I needed was a straight edge, razor, scissors, and cutting board. The worst part was the bending over and working around the hood.
Yep, love those sunsets 🙂
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Ingrid, that is the most amazing sunset! Question: do you guys travel with two pickup trucks? Thanks for the tip about wheel bearings… I will have to check on that with John. I don’t think ours have ever been repacked.
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We were really glad we didn’t tackle the bearing job ourselves. The guy said the grease didn’t look good and we were overdue on having this done. Fortunately everything with the exception of the grease looked good.
Yes, we do travel with 2 vehicles, but a lot of the time we’ll leave my little truck at our son’s house in Phoenix or our daughters place in Denver. It all depends on where we’re going and what we’re doing. When we snowbirded (before going full-time) we never drove both trucks but full-timing changed all of that 🙂
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Makes sense. I didn’t realize you snowbirded before full timing. And, it’s nice to have family where you do for easy truck boarding.
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Tjat sunset will live with you a long time after it set – wonderful
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Thank you – it’s hard to beat the sunsets in Arizona!
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The sunsets are totally awesome and I sure agree with your tile thoughts. I had to chuckle at “… most ridiculous asinine method…” as there seems to be a lot of that in the things we buy. As an engineer and I often have to ask myself – “what were they thinking when they engineered that?”
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Sometimes Al and I can’t believe the things we see in some of these RV’s. Whatever were they thinking? It’s obvious, they weren’t. I’m just glad hubby and I are both very handy because we’ve had to redo so many things in this RV. Sometimes it’s all I can do not to post a rant but that’s not my style. However, one day my patience may run out and my well controlled sailor mouth may emerge LOL.
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