Apr 24th PM - Home Again, Home Again

There was a lot of traffic on the way to the airport, the drive that we made in 90 minutes early on a Saturday morning took me nearly 150 minutes this afternoon.

There is a Walmart at the exit for the airport and I picked up a few things at the Walmart. I just left the parking lot when Kathy texted me that she was waiting on her bag. I made a couple of circuits around the airport drive. Just missed her on the 2nd loop, picked her up on the 3rd loop and we headed for Drews. (I have a VERY slow connection over my phone right now. If I remember, tomorrow I will post some photos of the flowers at his place.

We went Gaumenkitzel for supper, its a German restaurant in Berkeley, not to far from Drews. We ended up order four meals for the three of us. Kathy has the fish of the day, I had the Farmer's Dinner (two eggs over cubed potatoes, 3 link sausages, and some type of shredded carrots that were quite different, not bad, just different. Drew had some type of pork chop. We also ordered a Spatzle dinner. Some type of pasta with caramelized onions on it. Again, it was something different. Drew and I managed to eat our own meals and polish off the spatzle.

After supper we dropped Drew off, said our goodbye's and headed for Mt. Gilead. We arrived here around 10:30. That made a long day for Kathy.

I had washed the sheets, and some other things, today. The washer with the sheets got "unbalanced" and quit. When I went to transfer things to the dryer I had to restart it so the sheets were not dry for me to put back on the bed before I left for the airport. First thing we did when we got home was have to make the bed.
Kathy just got out of the shower and will be in bed shortly. I won't be far behind.

Goodnight to all and may God bless you and yours.

Apr 24th - Pick Up Kathy

Yesterday and today the weather was scheduled to be partly sunny. It drizzled rain on and off all day yesterday and all morning today. There is some sun right now.

Yesterday I painted the carpet ball game and this morning Frank put on the finishing trim. It is now 100% complete.

At 7:30 this morning I went up to the bathroom I have been working on, move the toilet base from outside to inside and turned the heater on so that everything would be warm for the new wax ring. Then I went back to the RV and had breakfast. After breakfast I went back and set the toilet. I went out and turned the water on ( the valve we had initially shut off served a pair of trailers). I was surprised at the very low water pressure. I couldn't imagine how anyone could take a shower with such low pressure. I kept playing with the valve in the toilet tank trying to get some water. Finally I figured something had to be wrong. I walked out and around the other trailer and water was pouring out of the water heater enclosure. The water heater had been taken out temporarily and when it was re-installed the water pipes were not re-connected. I shut off the water again!

I don't have a key to that the trailer with the unhooked water heater. I told Roper and he was going to check to see how much water went inside.

The only thing that needs to be done once the water is turned back on is to check to make sure the toilet valve still functions property and to clean the pine needles and crud that collected on the inside of the toilet tank while it was stored outside. I got enough water in it so that I am pretty sure that nothing leaks.

This afternoon I go to Oakland to pick up Kathy. We are going out to a "goodbye" supper with Drew before coming back up to the RV. Tomorrow will be a cleaning/packing day and we plan on heading north on Thursday. We only plan on going 200-250 miles on Thursday and then staying at some campground for several days while we explore the area around Eureka, CA.

Good afternoon to all and may God bless you and yours.

Apr 22nd - Random Thoughts

I'm not doing much today. I may clean up the car and maybe even do some vacuuming in RV, but don't plan on much "work" other than that.

Since I am back down at the Dining Hall, to access the Internet, (things are very quiet here with no campers) I also intend on doing some research on Medicare plans. We have already started to get information. I received my Medicare card. It has an effective date of August 1st. I think Kathy's also came.

I'm also doing some research on our trip to Alaska. The distances are kind of mind boggling. From Rockaway Beach, Oregon, our next volunteer camp, it is well over 2,000 miles to Soldatna, Alaska, where we may also do some volunteering. For those familiar with my home town of Coldwater, Michigan; the length of the trip up to Soldatna (JUST ONE WAY) is similar to the ROUND TRIP distance Coldwater to Orlando, FL (Disney World), or the ROUND TRIP distance from Coldwater to Denver, Colorado. On the other hand it is only about 400 miles longer than our trip from Lindale, Texas to Drew's in Oakland, California.

Today's forecast high in Soldatna is a rainy 46 and the low forecast for tonight is 25. No reason to hurry up there because I don't like below freezing temperature while in the motorhome. Actually I don't care for temps below 40 degrees while in it. Arriving in Soldatna around June 1st looks about right, based on temperatures. Their average high/low on June 1st is 60/40. Also the record low after June 1st is 28 degrees.

Time to start researching. Have a great day and may God bless you and yours.

Apr 21st - Generator Oil Change

I changed the oil in the generator in our motorhome today. The oil change was not a big deal but getting to the filter was something of a challenge. It will be much easier the next time now that I know the "tricks".

It was WARM here again today. The high was 91. I can hardly believe this but, according to Weatherbug, tomorrows high is supposed to be 66 with a low of 46 tomorrow night. Last nights low was 53. Wednesday there is a chance of some rain but other than that there is no rain in the forecast until after we leave here on Thursday. By the way, this weather worked out perfect for our laying the carpet at the carpet pool game. The adhesive needs warm weather to cure and normally they don't get warm enough weather this time of year. God provided us with the temperatures we needed to get the job done.

I think I posted a similar photo previously but can't help myself. As I walked up to check on the floor in the bathroom (it is no longer "tacky", PTL) I looked back down at the motorhome and the tree beside it and another off to the right. The two tall trees are Douglas firs, not coastal redwoods, that are at least 100' tall.

Kathy and the troops (Doug, Kelsey and Andy) went house shopping in Missouri today. Actually Kathy has been house shopping since early last November. We made an offer and had it accepted. Unless something odd happens we will have a house in Missouri around July 1. (Not sure what we will do with it, I will be in Alaska then, Lord willing)

The address is 12015 Black Rock Lane; Centertown, MO. It is less than 7 miles, about a 12-15 minute drive, from Kelsey & Andy's home. Not sure how the map will show up but here it is.

It is about a 20 minute drive, all 4 lane highway to downtown Jefferson City.

The house. It has a fully finished, poured concrete walls, "walkout basement". I'm told that there is a nice deck across at least part of the back.

The dining room from two different views.

Looking from the dining room into the kitchen area.

The 28x50 "outbuilding". (Sadly not nearly tall enough for the motorhome.) It does have a concrete floor. It was the guys woodworking shop. Doug said the guy has a fantastic set up for woodworking. Downside is that there is no attached garage and this building is a decent hike to the house. When I asked Doug if he would park in it and walk to the house in the winter he said it was to far to walk.

The house is in the middle of 4.4 acres of woods. There is a small pond that you can see from the deck.

It appears that the people we are buying from either built the house, or had it built, in 1995.

Guess that is enough for tonight. Time to play a little (on the computer) and then go back home.

Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.

Apr 20th - Carpet Pool Almost Finished

Thursday I put two coats of the finish paint on the Haven trailer bathroom floor and also two coats of finish paint over the primer on the carpet pool game. Doesn't sound like much but I was tired when I got back to the RV.
Today Frank and I put the carpet on the carpet pool game.

It isn't quite finished. there are some pieces of carpet to be put in the "pockets" at the ends of the table, and some trim to protect the edges of the carpet. But we are close! We are pretty pleased with the way it turned out. PTL! Below Frank is cleaning the glue off the tools.

I went home put a couple of loads of clothes in the camp washers, took a shower, changed the clothes from the washers to the dryers, and headed into town for supper. (I forgot to take something out of the freezer so that it would be thawed in time to cook for supper. At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it <grin>.)
Just outside the camp I noticed the sun on the hillside. The home has already experienced sunset but if someone ran up the hill they could watch the sun set again.

This isn't a good photo but.... There are LOTS of vineyards around here. A couple of weeks ago everything was brown and dead looking. This vineyard almost looks like a sea of green now with all the new sprouts.

I ate at D's Diner. The serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have BBQ and a variety of burgers but I chose the fish and chips. The fish was good and the fries were awesome. The guy in the white tee shirt is the owner. He took my order, brought my food and then came back to check to make sure everything was OK. I saw him come back to every table and check with them to make sure things were OK. When he saw me snap the photo he came over to the car to tell me that he was the owner and that he was always there because it was the only way to make sure things were done right. I will have to stop back and try one of his burgers. It was reasonably busy when I arrived and was really busy when I left.

Tomorrow is Sebastopol's Apple Blossom Festival. They have a parade and there are stands set up at one of the parks. If I'm not to lazy I may go back into town tomorrow and check it out.

According to Weatherbug, today's high was 87 and the low last night was 57. Highs is supposed to be 87 again tomorrow, then drop to 82 for Sunday and 71 for Monday & Tuesday. 87 is to hot, especially after weeks of 50's and low 60's.

Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.

Apr 18th - Back at the Dining Hall

I'm back at the Dining Hall to access the Internet again. Actually I was here for all three meals today. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. Lunch was some type of pork roast that was quite good, with mashed potatoes and veggies. Supper was hamburgers and baked beans, with chips.

I put a second coat of the "rubber primer" on the bathroom floor this morning and spent the rest of the day working on the carpet pool game. I installed the new end pieces that I had made. They fit OK, nothing to brag about. I definitely need more practice cutting bevels on a table saw. It took some work with a rasp and belt sander to improve the looks. After that I put a coat of primer on it. It is actually white but the sun shining through the tent made it look orange in the photo.

Rick and Bob moved the new shower trailer in place today. For some silly California reason the camp can't any more showers, they don't have many, inside permanent buildings. They can't add any number of "temporary" showers. In the past they paid to rent several shower trailers but the company they rented from wouldn't keep them up. They decided to build their own. They one they just moved into place is the 2nd one they have built. Each unit has 4 showers. (The blue lawn chair on the far left is ours. Our motorhome is behind the chair.)

There will be a covered porch along this wall with individual doors to each shower unit.

On the back side there is an opening to a mechanical chase between each pair of showers.

I started downloading updated maps for my Garmin GPS at 5:30 PM. It is now 8:30 PM and I supposedly still have 40 more minutes to wait on the download.

Weather here has been nice. No rain in the forecast for the next 5 days and it hasn't rained for about that many. This is probably the longest "dry spell" since we have been here.

Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.

Apr 17th - Tuesday Evening

Kathy is in Missouri. She is flying back to California on the 24th.

I was outside all day Monday and, even though I don't think I worked that hard, I was POOPED Monday evening. Even though the camp furnished supper that night I went back to the RV after "work", took a shower, warmed up some ham & beans for supper and was in bed by 8 PM, although I read for an hour before going to sleep.

Yesterday, Monday, I made myself eggs and sausage links for breakfast. When leaving the RV and heading to the maintenance building I drove by these deer. The gray on the far side of the photo is the road leading the other way, the roads in this area are one lane. This grassy area is less than 100 yards from our RV. As I was driving away I saw the deer cross the road I had just come down and head into the woods.

This morning I got up at 7:30 and went down to the Dining Hall for breakfast. I also had lunch at the Dining Hall today.

Today I put cove molding around the perimeter of the bathroom floor and put on the first coat of "rubber" paint. In the morning I will add a second coat of the "rubber" paint and hopefully on Thursday I will put on the finish coat. This is the floor after the first coat.

 This is the coating the camp is trying out in bathroom and shower areas. The idea is to take the coating slightly up the wall to protect that joint against moisture. After finishing the three coats the area is supposed to hold water. Obviously this floor won't since there is a register right in front of the door. There will be a threshold added under the bathroom door. It should prevent water from getting into the hall.

I also continued working on the "carpet pool" game. I've now stripped off the old carpet, pulled hundreds of 1 1/4 inch staples that were in the old carpet and sanded off as much of the old carpet glue as practical. This afternoon I also made new pieces for the ends. The old ones were shot. Making the new ones was interesting. They are pieces of 2x8 that have a single bevel on one side and a double bevel on the other side. I got a bevel cut on both sides but was having trouble figuring out how to cut the second bevel on the one side. Chris (one of the Tuesday volunteer guys) gave me an idea and it worked great. At least I think it did. Tomorrow I will put the new pieces on and will see how they fit.

No supper tonight at the Dining Hall. I went home after "work", took a shower, and made myself supper. I fried a couple of pork chops and sliced and fried half a baked potato that Kathy had left me for that purpose. I also warmed up some macaroni and cheese that I had made Monday night. I fried two pork chops but only ate one. I will have the other with a couple of eggs for breakfast, and fry the other half of that potato.

After supper I walked down to the Dining Hall (it is only a little over three tenths of a mile but it is really dark on the way back to the RV parking area), to access the Internet. While working on this post I am also downloading a map update for our GPS unit.

AARGH!!! I just checked and for some reason the download stopped. It appears that if I don't keep the download window open and active the download slows down to a crawl and then actually stops. I probably going to abort it since I think it will still take another couple of hours to finish.

Good night to all and may God bless you and yours.