The Rain Has Stopped

Wow, we have been wet here for a long time. Seems that we get two days each week to work in the cotton and the rest of the time it rains. The sun is out today. the word I have gotten is that Tuesday we may be able to mud the pickers through the field. I hope so. Do not want to be working when it is zero degrees out there.
Here are some pictures of the cotton module building that I do. When I was a kid we dragged a sack and hand picked the cotton. It was weighed and dumped into a trailer. The trailer was pulled to the gin and emptied. Totally different today. Looking into the builder from my office window.

This arm is operated by hydraulics. It tamps the cotton down.

Cotton being dumped into the module builder. We get about 3 big dumps in one of the builders.

Yep, that is my office.

A shot of the buggy dumping more cotton into the builder. We build big bales. A truck comes and pulls these big bales into it and off to the gin. This is a lot easier than it used to be. I enjoy running the module builder. I put pictures up last year when we were working but thought I might put these up for new readers.

We can pick 100 acres per day barring no breakdowns or bad weather. So far, we have finished about 500 acres. We have another 500 to go. 5 good days might do it but I figure more like 8 or 9 days, depending on weather. I hope we can get done soon. The Vdub is going to be finished soon and we must drive back to Topeka, In. to pull ithome. Would like to make that trip before it starts snowing. We will be right on the Michigan line and it can get mighty cold up there.

Hope everyone is having a good week. The sun sure feels good coming through our south facing picture window. We are glad to see it after so many cloudy and rainy days. I saw the forecast. Should be good weather here all week.

Catch you next time.

Dan

GMC Motorhome, Why?

What do these pictures have to do with why anyone would want a GMC coach? A lot. Look at the first one. What do you notice about the kitchen? No stove top. What good is a motor coach with no stove top? A hot plate? Yes.

What is this?

Hmmm, looks like some kind of cooking apparatis.

You are right. When we rebuilt the kitchen Teri wanted more counter top. She said, let's not put the burners back in. I could not believe it as my Teri loves cooking. But, she was in charge here so no cook top. You see, we had the one burner electric portable top and she wanted to use it and then stow it away. That is when we are plugged into electicity. When we are dry camping she wanted a propane top. So, we bought the one seen above. It is designed for camping and using bottles. A little modifying and it works from the quick disconnect line I have for the Wave 6 catalytic heater. When finished both of the are placed in a special slide out designed just for them, out of the way. If you noticed the big space to the lower left, that is for our convection microwave, which is in the house now due to the fact that our's quit so we brought the one from the coach in for now. The sink is also turned 90 degrees for more room. The pull out faucet is nice.

These coaches are 35 plus years old. Why would anyone want one? Well, as you can see above, they can be made to suit anyone's needs with just a little thought. There is no perfect motorhome. So, why pay so much for one that is not really what you want? Get a GMC and make it suit your needs. I mean, there is not anything that can't be done to one of these coaches. They are basically a 2 person coach but some people even stretch the length of them. No one realizes how old this coach is unless they know about GMC coaches. With very little effort you can do whatever you want to the interior of these things. If you don't want to do the work yourself we have a guy in Florida that will do it for you, Jim Bounds. He is building two coaches now that even have Duramax running gear under a GMC body, very slick.

We could have spent a lot of money for a new coach but we did not choose to do that. We bought a 35 year old coach and are in the process of making it just like we want it. There is no depreciation on it either. All of the parts are still available. We have a friend, Jim Kanomata, that can get any part one needs for these things. We have all of the modern things for these old coaches. Our's even has fuel injection.

When Teri and I bought this thing we had no idea about the support out there. We bought it to see if we liked having a motorhome. If we did, we would sell it, at little loss, and get a new bigger one. Well, we liked motohoming so much, and this old thing, that we decided to keep it and make it our very own. We learned about the great support community that was out there and the fact that all of the parts were still available. We have one of the most updated forums on the internet. Information is readily available. Even a large photo site is maintained by one of our members where upgrades are shown.

The GMC group even has what is called the "Black List". This is a list of GMC owners all across the US and Canada that own GMCs and are willing to help you should you have a breakdown while traveling. Our group is the largest group in FMCA, the mother of all motorhome clubs.

I could give you a history lesson on this coach but I wont. Just know that if you are in the "thinking stages" of looking for a nice motorhome consider one of these. Look on ebay and Craig's list, they are everywhere. I would personally look to buy from a club member because most club folks keep their's up really well. We happend to buy a "rolling coach". That means it was well used, frequently, so we knew it had been well maintained. I would not want a coach that has been sitting for 3 or more years.

Have I mentioned the people? The GMC owners. Teri and I have found that the friendliest people own a GMC. We are members of 4 GMC clubs. There are about a dozen out there. We often travel many miles to gatherings. At first it was to see the other coaches. Now, it is to see the owners of those coaches. The ones who love and maintain, not only the coaches, but the friendships that they have cultivated over the years. It is amazing that many of the folks seem like family members once you get to know them. No longer is the GMC the focus of discussion. It is great. Something I never thought would take place. I mean, Teri and I have enough family members already. It just happens. We maintain contact with many many of the owners every week. It is unreal.

I could have thrown up a lot of pictures here. Pictures of GMC coaches that look better than new but you have seen them. I put them up every time we attend a gathering. Paint jobs on these coaches are fairly cheap. Good deals are out there now for sure.

Consider a GMC. You won't regret it. Most are well maintained by their owners and break down far less often than new ones.
We continue with upgrades on our coach. It is like a second home to Teri and me. It carries us to far away places that we had only dreamed about before. Now we have been there and made our own memories. We often live in our GMC for 3-4 months at a time. All of the conviences of home are taken with us. I do not like "roughing it". Our coach is very cozy and is being rebuilt to suit us and our needs. You too can have one for very little up front money and make it a modern 2nd home. Who knows, we might even see you out there before long.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed today's visit.

Dan

GMC Motorhome and Rain

Yep, burned out headlight on low beam. That is a new headlight bulb too. Teri and I were getting to roll Monday morning. This is what sun up looks like. I rarely see it but saw it Monday.

As mentioned before, these units are everywhere in and around Elkhart. What a life.

Here is where we left the bug. The last picture of the yellow paint. Can't wait to see it with new skin.

Larry and Karen run this rv painting shop in Topeka, In. You have to be going here to find it. Won't just pass through Topeka. Teri wants me to see if they will paint the Mustang. I might.

Here I am heading to work. Teri has been taking me each morning. Where we are working right now is 17 miles from the house. I catch a ride home with others. When we get closer to home I will probably take the Mustang. I miss the vdub already.

I will get more pictures of work later. I haven't wanted to carry the camera with me all day, with no vehicle to keep it in. It might fall out of my pocket. I have very bad luck with digital cameras. Right now I am waiting for a 50 dollar bargain on a digital camera. No more 100 plus dolars for a camera for me.

So, wonder what the title has to do with this post. Nothing. We worked til 930 pm last night trying to beat the rain. Even though it has not rained here it is very wet. The trees have water dripping off of them an it is wet where the cotton is. No work during wet cotton. If it does not rain then we might work Saturday. The weather channel has us covered up in rain but it is just not happening, yet anyway.

I just wanted to share a few pictures with you this morning. Nothing outstanding, just sharing. I have to get busy getting the GMC motorhome ready for our next trip. Need to check all flids and change oil. Also needs greased. One good hour and we are ready to roll again. Came in on an empty tank of fuel so I do need to go get it filled up befor fuel gets too much higher. Seems every time Teri and I leave it goes up at least a quarter while we are traveling. We plan to head to Quartzsite, Az. about the first of the year. Hoping the fuel is not too expensive then. That is at least 1800 miles, one way.

So, there it is. Hope everyone's week is a good one. Teri and I really enjoyed our friends this past weekend in Elkhart, In. Was a great rally that was put on by Eastern States.

Dan

Home Again

Teri and I dropped the bug off at the painter early Monday morning. Then we left it and drove over 550 miles in 10 hours. Not bad in a motorhome. Stopped twice for gas and that was it. I had to be at work Tuesday morning. They needed me Monday but did not make it. Folks were sure glad to see me Tuesday. As I have mentioned, I run a module builder. We have two of them running during the cotton harvest. Mine had to be handled by whoever was not busy Monday. I have not had time to take any pictures yet but I will in a day or two. We worked 12 hours today. Trying to beat the rain. I love what I do. It is very easy and a trained monkey could do it. Absolutely no responsibility, just as I like it. My biggest concern is safety. One can get hurt very easily on farm equipment. I have a closed cab so I am out of the weather. What else could I ask for. I get paid good to do something I enjoy and am around great family members all day long.
Well, it is 1 am, I must hit the sack. If it is not raining Thursday I will be up early and at it again.
Hope everyone is having a great week.
Dan

One GMC Motorhome

Yep, just us left. Was a lonely feeling this morning. We got home from church and almost all of our friends were gone. We visited with Bob and Terry Stockholm as the hooked up their toad and pulled away. Kinda sad. These gatherings of friends seem to always be way too short. We will hook up the vdub before dark and be ready to pull out about 7 am. We have a 35 mile drive over to the painter's shop where we will drop off our old junky looking bug. That will kinda be sad too. I hope it realizes that we will be back after it shortly. Should look like a new car when we come back for it. We were not ready to have it painted but we were offered too good a deal to pass up. times are hard up here for those involved with the rv industry but I think we got a very special deal. Maybe they figure we are good advertisement. I guess we are. When I am happy with a product I tell everyone. Pictures of the bug will be plastered all over the internet as I know we will be happy with the work. Have seen too many of their paint jobs and know they do quality work.
Yesterday we had Leon Herschberger here from National RV refrigeration. He makes old tired rv refers new again. He even fixed my 2 year old that was freezing everything, even the eggs. I told him my problem and he gave me a part. It worked. I will not buy another rv fridge as long as he is in buisness. Great guy and very knowledgable. A young Amish fella. Seems very trustworthy.
Well, I just ran down and visited Nick and Terry Russell. They publish the Gypsy Journal and are here working on this month's copy. As soon as they finish it they are heading south, as they are full timers. Nick told me they will pull out in a couple of weeks. He has a nice MCI 40 ft. conversion here for sale. If you know anyone looking for one, pass this along. I think he has 500 watts of solar on the roof. They just purchased a 40 ft. pusher by Winnebego with slide outs. Someone is going to get a real deal on the MCI they have for sale. I have been inside it and it is very nice. His bride is like mine. she knows how to use a hammer and saw. She built the interior of that bus.
Hope everyone has a good week. Watch us as we travel tomorrow on the tracker. Hope to be home by dark. We are picking cotton this week and I have got to get back.
Dan

Saturday Morning Drive

Wally, my friend from Omaha, and I took off this morning and drove over to Shipshewana. We saw a lot of sights but the pictures I took did not come out very good. We saw a lot of horse and buggies. I mean a lot. This is Amish territory. The locals are used to all of the horses but visitors must be very careful.

As we were coming back home we ran into a local car group that was organizing a run over to another town for a car show. Of course we had to stop and take pictures. I think they asked me more questions about the bug than I got to ask about their car. I was asked if we drove the vdub all the way up here from Missouri. I had to laugh at that one when I told how it was towed behind the motorhome.

These folks were very friendly, as most car folks are. I was glad we stopped.

This old caddy hurst was kinda neat. The guy driving it looked like someone you would see in a horror movie driving something like this.

I asked if they knew that a local motorhome painter would paint cars for them and they did not. Told them about Monday, dropping our bug off at the motorhome painter for new paint.

This morning we had a local rv refer rebuilder here for a seminar. Very interesting. I wish I had known about him before we forked over 1033.00 for our new 3 way 2 years ago. We have been having problems with our "new" refer freezing everything on the lowest temp setting. He gave me a part and said it might fix mine. I installed it and I think it is working.

Well, it is open house. I got to run.

Dan

NEWS FLASH

The 5 color vdub is about to become a 2 color vdub. We had a great presentation from a GMC coach painter tonight. He took a look at our bug. Told me to drop it off Monday. So, we will hang around here until Monday morning, run over to Topeka, Indiana and drop it off. Will head home after that. Just wanted to let yall know. I don't know how the grandkids will take this but I can't pass up this deal.
Dan