Using Your Noodle

Since we have so many great photographers out there, thought I would pass along this contest announcement from Parade Magazine.  Wouldn’t it be fun if a blogger won?

http://www.parade.com/news/this-land/index.html?mbid_source=parade&mbid_medium=newsletter&mbid_term=041811

Deadline is April 29 so don’t delay.  If the link doesn’t work just go to parade.com and you can probably find a link on their homepage.

It is windy here today and the weather service issued a severe weather alert for Hwy. 168, where we traveled yesterday.  Sustained winds of 40 mph with 70  mph gusts.  Glad we did the trip yesterday and not today.

We got the laundry done this morning and are doing all the little chores preparing to leave here tomorrow a.m.  Seems we will miss Jerry and Suzy but hopefully we will run into a lot of you next winter as we travel. 

Now about that noodle…this is a small thing and will not even be of interest to those of you with big rigs and big showers, but for the ones of us who have small rigs and small showers, I want to share Russ’s bright idea with  you.  This will especially interest Lazy Daze owners.

One thing about Lazy Daze, is they make use of every square inch of space.  Nothing is wasted.  Therefore the shower is very utilitarian.  It is just large enough to get the job done…barely.  And for those of us who are a bit larger than your average bear, getting a good shower can be a trick and a half.  Lazy Daze has a window in the shower and it is hung with a plastic curtain to protect it from the shower water.  The problem is, you turn sideways to fit into the shower and you back into that window curtain…ugh, wet cold plastic slaps you in the back,  Then makes you jump and then you have a wet, cold shower curtain slapping you in the face.  Makes Russ scream like a girl – oh darn, can’t use that again can I?  Anyway you find yourself doing the plastic curtain two-step without any music and yipping every time you get slapped with another cold piece of plastic.

So, here’s what we did.  Now it isn’t pretty but it does the job!  On the shower stall I stuck a few blobs of Elmer’s Tack.  It is a reusable gummy sticky stuff that is found in craft stores.  It doesn’t harm the surface and it can be easily removed.  But it works great to keep the window curtain from blowing against a wet body.  This is the housewives answer to Gorilla Glue.





After the shower is completed, just pull back the curtain and open the window to dry out the shower stall.

But the real stroke of genius was what Russ did with his noodle.  We have been trying to find a way to make more room in the shower.  There are commercial curved shower curtain rods, like those found in hotels, but because of the configuration of the Lazy Daze shower, we were unable to find one that would work.  SO…Russ cut a swim Noodle just a little bigger than the shower door way.  It can be braced on either side of the shower door, inside the curtain, and with it bowed out it instantly gives you a whole lot more room to move around.  No, like I said, it isn’t pretty, but it is cheap and effective.  Just pop it in place, no screws or mounting hardware needed.  When you are done, just take it down and leave it in the shower.  Easy as pie!!



I put a small dollop of that tacky stuff on either side of the doorway to hold the sides of the shower curtain in place.  It makes a world of difference.  No more dancing to the plastic curtain two-step!  Now that’s using your noodle.

Russ also uses his noodle outside.  Now if you are camping in really cold weather, you of course need a heat tape for your water hose.  But for overnighting when you might get a light frost, this works well.



If the awning was out you would also see the arms of the awning with noodle covers.  Just slice one side open and pop it on the awning arm.  If you still blindly run into the awning support, at least you won’t bump your noggin!  They’re also good for table legs or anything else you might not want to bump into.  These handy dandy swim toys are so cheap and light weight that you just can’t beat ‘em for simple little jobs like these.

If you can’t find noodles at your local store, just hang out at the neighborhood pool and wait for some kid to leave his behind!

No sightseeing pictures today but Russ did find a Blackberry down by the creek,.  He turned it into the office and the owner came by a little later to claim it.  We were still hanging around, waiting for the laundry to finish so the lady was able to thank Russ personally.  She was so grateful.  It’s nice to be able to do a good deed once in a while.

If you don't hear from me for a few days, it means we are staying in one of those out of the way places again that have no WiFi.  I really am going to check into an air card when I get home. But until then, I'll seen ya when I can and ya'll take care now.