I retired from the USAF in 2010 and have worked for an
aerospace defense company for the past five years. We are now at the point where I would like to
go into semi-retirement. What is
semi-retirement? Well, I see it as I
have control of my scheduled and can take short-term jobs that interest
me. So, I gave the company my notice and
told them I would finish up a project I have been working for 3 years and my
last day would be 12 Nov. We worked out
a plan where I would attend the Annual Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA)
conference in National Harbor, MD (across the river from Washington, DC.) then
return to California to out-process the company. Pattie, seeing an opportunity to visit friends
and her hairstylist in Maryland, jumped at the chance to join me.
We pulled the slides in, turned off the water to the coach,
and left it hooked up in Valencia Travel Village while we flew to Washington,
DC. The conference was at the Gaylord Convention Center and we were able to enjoy the newly developed National Harbor
area. They have one of those giant
Ferris wheels there, so we rode that one evening after dinner.
The conference went well and we were able to see old friends
and attend our home church in Dunkirk, MD on Sunday. The return flight was
delayed and a 12-hour day of travel turned in to 20 hours. Pattie said it was confirmation that it is
time to retire and I agreed. My company
friends treated me to a retirement lunch and all was going as planned until the
program I have been working on was extended to early December. I guess it is the military ethos that says
you don’t leave in the middle of a fight especially one you started that made
me say yes, I will stay on until it is finished. However, I asked to be able to work remote as
we already made plans to be in Alabama for Thanksgiving. They agreed and we rolled out of California
on 13 Nov. 
The Bus ran great and we spent the first night in Quartzite,
AZ. Quartzite is know for the largest
annual flea market and RV gathering the world which occurs in January. We just did a quick overnight and noted that
we may return for that event one day.
The following day we arrived in Prescott, AZ and visited Jeff and Patt
Parker our Maryland friends who have retired there. They gave us the grand tour of Prescott and
we had dinner on Whisky Row in an old saloon with a shady history. 
Now in California, it had begun to get cold enough to need
heat in the early morning. We used the
heat elements in the roof top A/C units and that was sufficient. In Prescott, it was in the mid-20s to 30s in
the morning with some snow. No problem
since The Bus is equipped with AquaHot that will provide endless hot water and heat
the interior and lower storage compartment…when it works. We had been using hot water, so I thought all
was good until I switched it to heat. No heat.
We ran to Wal-Mart and bought two small space heaters to get us through
the night. I sought advice from numerous
forum experts and a local technician who did not have time to come check on it. I worked half a day checking power to pumps
and beating on anything that looked like it might need beating on, but no
joy. Time to head to warmer weather and
find a qualified tech to service this unit.
Next stop, Oklahoma City.
Thanks for following keepingupwiththejonesrv
RV tip – Disable the your automobile horn chirp when remote
locking to keep the campground quiet.
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