66 Years Ago today

Joan of Argghh! posts on today's 66th Anniversary of D-Day.

Verse the Fourth: Quaint Religious Sentiment

I couldn't agree with her words more. And those of Francis Scott Key, too.

Another Leaky Faucet...and More!

And this is why we decided on a shake-down cruise at a local campsite.

Last night, I finished washing the dishes in The Trailer's galley sink and turn off the water. Only the hot water won't stop running. I had a similar problem with the bathroom sink and found that by just disassembling the faucet and then putting it back together, the problem was solved. Seems The Trailer sat a little too long and the rubber-and-spring assembly inside the faucet got "tired."

So I shut off the water and disassembled the galley faucet. Different problem. The rubber washer had a tear in it and there was no way to massage it back to life. It needed replacement. Of course, being a Saturday night, the closest RV places would not be open until Monday. The Camping World in Bath wouldn't open until 11 AM on Sunday, but the Wal-Mart in Painted Post is open 24/7.

I made the drive to Wally World this morning at 7 AM (could have done it last night, but I figured if Wally World didn't have a fix, I'd have to go up to Bath and why make two trips in that direction). I was disappointed to find that, although a Super Wal-Mart, the RV section was smaller than what we have in Mansfield. Same with the hardware and plumbing section. BUT, the plumbing section did have an inexpensive (under $13) replacement faucet that would do the job. I bought one, and a tube of silicon caulk, and headed back to The Trailer.

Out with the old and in with the new in no time flat. I was finished with the plumbing chores by 9 AM. Two hours including a 60+ mile round trip to get the materials. I'm feeling pretty good!

******

Weather: In a word: WET.

Over two inches of rain fell at the Aerie overnight and probably the same amount at Ives Run Campground where we had thunder, lightening and heavy winds. Scattered showers are still predicted for today. Many campers were pulling out this morning as I made my repairs.

At least the temperatures have been comfortable. They have been in the 70s which is good because the humidity, as to be expected has been even higher.

******

The cats will be going to Adam's this afternoon. (Don't tell them! 1) They hate to travel. 2) Adam has a Golden Retriever and, while it is accustomed to cats, the opposite is not necessarily true.) We've got their food, dishes, even their beds and litter box and litter ready to go. We'll take them out to the garage one by one to go into their traveling cases. I just have to find my gauntlets....

******

Two to go (Monday and Tuesday) before we go on the road.

Aerie/Trailer Report, June 5, 2010

Little to report as we continue to prepare for The Big Trip.

I spent the night in The Trailer again. A little tougher time sleeping last night as there was a brief T-storm that rolled through around 3 AM and rattled the awning. I was having some weird dreams anyway.

Programmable Mr. Coffee with the 8-cup stainless steel pot (NOT glass!) did its thing perfectly this morning. Too bad I hadn't moved any food in for breakfast! Oh well, coffee is a fine (and necessary) way to start the day.

Drove back to the Aerie for lunch with Terry and to cut the lawn one final time. You can be sure I will have some breakfast materials when I return to The Trailer this evening.

Terry grilled some marinated venison flank steak on deck for lunch--and the gas tank ran empty just as the meat finished. Timing is everything.

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Posting will be getting pretty spotty for the next few months as I've no guarantee of having any sort of hook up while on the road. (I am not so far gone that I feel the need to purchase a special mobile satellite hook up. Nor did they pay us that much for our gas lease that I could afford one. Although....)

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Just three (3!) days (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) before we shove off on Wednesday morning!

Aerie Bears

Terry managed to get a photo of her ursine visitor at the Aerie the other day.

Bear bends feeder to his will.

Doesn't he look cute? Remember, this is 2:30 in the afternoon. On a warm day. He should be sleeping in the shade somewhere.

Then again, so should the Mama Bear and her twin cubs that showed up today at lunch time. We made too much noise inside the house and she went charging back up the hill with the twins--who are not much bigger than Chester--in tow. I, therefore have no photos to show.

Trailer Report, June 4, 2010

7:30 PM Wednesday, June 3, 2010:
Wednesday morning I pulled out of the Bolt Hole hauling The Trailer behind the Tundra and headed southwest to Ives Run campground on Hammond Lake just outside of Tioga Junction. The campground will serve as a learning center as Terry and I prepare for a far larger adventure. This little trip was a mere 220 miles while starting next Wednesday we will be off on a journey of approximately 12,000 miles.

Ives Run Campground is run by the Army Corps of Engineers as Hammond Lake and adjoining Tioga Lake were created as flood control structures after the devastation of hurricane Agnes in 1972. In addition to camping there are boat ramps for fishing, biking and hiking trails, and a swimming beach. Some of the facilities are day use as well as open to the overnighters.

A short distance north, and almost in New York State, Cowenesque Lake serves the same purpose and also has a smaller, and I’m told, quieter campground. As the crow flies, Cowenesque is a short distance north, but by road, it’s almost 15 to 20 miles further from the Aerie, which is why The Trailer is parked at Ives Run which is still some 25 miles from the Aerie.

Each site at the campground has a paved, wide, level pad upon which to park your trailer, RV or motor home. Tent campers can use it as a driveway/parking lot. I had little trouble backing The Trailer into the slot. The site I chose has both water and electrical hook-ups. There’s a communal dump station where you can empty your gray and black water tanks. We will be making use of that facility when we leave as there’s no reason to be hauling the extra weight across long distances.

I’ve made that mistake before. Hauling extra weight, I mean. On our first trip with The Trailer we went to Colorado Springs. Not knowing any better, I filled the fresh water tank at the Bolt Hole and hauled a massive amount of water to Colorado. And we didn’t use any of it, since every campsite we stopped at had water hook-ups. That certainly put a huge dent in our mpg readings! It’s tough enough going across Kansas on I-70 when it’s constantly up hill (the lowest point on the highway is at the eastern border and the highest on the western end) and against the constant wind. Put a hundred gallons of water in the tank at 7.5 pounds per and things get tough. I think we got something like 4.5 miles to the gallon going across Kansas east to west.

The Trailer is parked, leveled and hooked up to the water and electrical services. Everything seems to be working fine. The bump-out functioned properly and nearly doubled the size of the living quarters inside. The AC is pumping out refreshingly cold, dry air. The fridge/freezer is cooling down nicely and will be ready for some foodstuffs by Friday afternoon. The hot water heater is producing scalding hot water. The stove top lights--although I’ve nothing but water to cook so far. All the lights seem to work as they are supposed to. Things are shaping up pretty well. Perhaps Terry and I were a little over concerned about the need for a shakedown outing.

Nah. Probably not. There are things to do to make life more comfortable for the next three months and it’s easier to do them here than up at the Bolt Hole. Take the kitchen closet. It needs another shelf. I’ve got the plywood and the Aerie has the table saw and other necessary tools to make an easy job of it. Then there’s all the clothes and food that need to get packed away. Plus Terry’s sewing projects--you didn’t think she’d leave without taking some along, did you?—and my camera equipment. And we’ll need to take both of our computers for keeping journals and, when we have access, checking emails, posting to the blog, etc. Already, we’ve moved several Rubber Maid bins of clothes into storage beneath the bed, got the floor vacuumed, brought in some pots and pans, hauled out some Corningware (the stuff that didn’t break!) and generally made The Trailer more of a living place. And we’ve got five more days to get’er even more so.

Of course, during those five days we’ll also have to get the cats over to Adam’s place, “close up” the Aerie, have dinner with Gary and his wife, do some banking, see about another spare tire for both The Trailer and the Tundra, and go shopping for a few little items o go in the “just in case” drawer (extra fuses for both, maybe some 12 volt light bulbs for The Trailer, and…).

9 PM Wednesday, June 3, 2010:
Aha! The first project has already reared its head. The hot water faucet in the bathroom has a leak. It will probably be just a new washer but that will be the first thing I will take apart Friday morning after I’ve had a cup of coffee. Shut the water off at the outside faucet, run the inside until there’s no more drip, take the inside faucet apart to see what type of washer it requires and then go off to the Aerie (or the hardware store if need be) to get a replacement. The second project will be to cut the shelf for the kitchen closet. Then back to The Trailer to make repairs and installations. Should be a snap.

11:30 AM Thursday:

Note to self: Remember to attach the water pressure regulator to the faucet when hooking up the trailer. That (and maybe the dissembling the sink’s faucet) fixed the water leak in about 10 minutes.

Extra bulbs for The Trailer and fuses for both The Trailer and Tundra were located and purchased at Auto Zone.

The local mechanic says he’ll have little to no problem getting a spare to the trailer. The Tundra might be a different story. Seems it’s 1) an odd size and 2) too new (2007).

The shelf is cut and ready for installation.

Step-by-step.

More on the AAF (Adirondack Air Force)

In mentioning the deer fly and black fly contingent of the Adirondack Air Force (AAF--stalwart defenders of the North Country) in last evening's post, I forgot to mention the evening and night time squadrons: no-see-ums and mosquitoes. I can not speak of strength of the forces of the skeeters for I stayed inside behind the defenses of the screened windows and sliding doors, but the no-see-ums! Oy!

The little buggers may be smaller than the head of a pin but that belies their ferociousness in the fight. They easily fit through the screen's mesh and are attracted by any light you may have on inside your abode. Once inside, they are stealth incarnate. You can't really see them unless you are totally focused upon every little dust mote that may be flittering about. You certainly can not hear them for their tiny wings make no sound recognizable to the human ear. Their weight is so slight that they go unnoticed when they land upon your skin. But boy oh boy can you feel them bite!

And bite they do! With all the subtlety of a chainsaw. Your first indication of their presence may be the sharp stinging sensation skin to a pair of needle nosed pliers being applied to your arm or neck. They are hard to dismiss. They don't take much blood when compared to the amount a deer fly, mosquito or even a black fly takes, but they leave behind an irritation all out of proportion to their size.

I'm fortunate enough that the bite of a deer fly, mosquito and even a no-see-um will cause a very short term itch and swelling. A little application of After Bite may, in fact, reduce the irritation long enough for it to disappear. Perhaps that's part of the value of six years of allergy shots I got when I was in my late 20's. (That and protection against the occasional bee/wasp sting that could have killed me.)

Black fly bites (which I managed to avoid yesterday some how) are a different story. They must not have been in the serum the doctor shot me up with on a weekly, then bi-weekly and finally monthly basis. Those bites last for weeks. And itch the entire time. If I'm foolish enough to scratch, then the scar really does last for ever. I've a few on my shins right above the sock line and on my arms to prove it.

******

Why am I writing about the AAF at 7 AM? Because one of the countermeasures, a Phoebe, decided to serenade me at 5 AM with a loud and repetitive call that made sleep impossible. I'd go out and throttle the damn bird except it eats lots of deer flies. Perhaps it was just angry that I killed so many while cutting the lawn yesterday.

(As for the other major countermeasure, the Dragonfly, I saw far too few while walking the mower about yesterday. Now swallows around here, either. And bats? They have pretty much disappeared due to the white-nose fungus that hit the wintering colonies.)

Up early this morning due to the birds raising a ruckus outside so I was on the road heading north by 7 AM. After 205 miles I pulled into the yard at the Bolt Hole. Taking the shortest route still takes about four hours. Since it's mostly state highways, however, there's less incentive to zoom along at 65-70 mph and that, in turn, brought my mpg down to a respectable 19.4 on this trip--village speed limits and stop lights not withstanding. Once I've got the trailer in tow I'm not likely to see those numbers for a long time.

First thing I had to do when I got to the Bolt Hole was go back down to Stewarts to get some gas for the lawn mower. I filled up the truck while I was at it so I won't have to do it int he morning. That little trip--to Stewarts and back is 26 miles. All for two stinking gallons of gas.

Cutting the grass was a no brainer. In a week and a half, it had grown six inches. It's not likely to get cut again for some time, but at least it looks good now with all the hawk weed trimmed. Some of that had started to flower. The yellow hawk week comes first then the orange. I was cutting the yellow flowers today--along with the grass and plantain. That's quite an improvement over the abandoned field of goldenrod and milkweed that we had when we bought the place back in the early 80s. The Bolt Hole (then called Little Pines) had been vacant for three years when we finally took possession.

Cutting the grass was no problem, as I said. It was warm--in the low 70s--and humid under a bright sun and I sweat off a few pounds of water weight, but the feared black flies were nowhere to be seen. The deer flies, however, were a different story.

Why do the deer flies always seem to bite on the knuckles or elbows or your ears or the nape of your neck? I must have got eight or nine bites but killed at least three times that many flies. And I mean squashed to a pulp. Merely swatting a deer fly is not going to kill it. Sure, it may fall to the ground, but that's just a ploy that allows the fly to catch its breath before jumping back into the fray. No, to kill a deer fly you must see blood. It will probably be yours, but you need to crush that critter until it pops. And then roll it into a tiny little ball of unidentifiable nothingness.

Took me three hours to finish cutting the grass as I took my time and stopped for water several times and for lunch along the way.

******
Once the grass was cut, I rested for an hour and then dragged myself outside to hitch up the trailer. It was now close to five in the afternoon and the sky had clouded up some. The deer flies were gone. The black flies had come back. If they had been out in the numbers I ran into while performing my hitching routine while I was cutting grass, I would have had to don my net suit or die. They were out after blood hot and heavy. Even Deep Woods Off was no help for the little buffalo gnats seem to find any patch of skin the spray misses and should you perspire at all...well, that washes away the Off pretty quickly.

I got the job done in the face of superior numbers and I am ready to roll in the morning.

The 27' Wilderness is hitched and ready.

I had only one slight problem and that came when I went to check the lights. The running lights on the trailer were fine. Right turn signal AOK. But the left turn signal and the brake light on the left were no shows.

I checked the plug that runs from the truck to the trailer. No luck. I pulled the cover off the tail light to check the bulb and it seemed to be fine (and HOT to the touch!). I then turned the lights off, waited a few minutes--battling black flies all the while--and pulled the light out of the socket to examine it more closely. Looked OK so I put it back in. Turned on the lights and flicked the direction on and BINGO! It worked! I'm a bloody genius! Just wish I knew what the heck I did. There was lots of dust inside the light fixture and I can only assume that some of that was in the socket screwing up the connection. That was one of the reasons I pulled the plug and reattached the truck to trailer--dust, dirt, grime. Comes from living on a dirt road.

******

Got a phone call from Terry. Like clockwork, I left to go to the Bolt Hole and she gets a bear at the bird feeders! At 2:30 in the afternoon. Oh well, I had finished the bag of sunflower seeds anyway and had no intention of opening another. I just hope that the tube feeders were not completely destroyed.

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Just 6 more days before we haul out of PA heading west.

Aerie Report, June 1, 2010

The showers (quite heavy at times) continued for much of the morning and ended between noon and 1 PM. The sun then came out and the temperature climbed to near 80 degrees. At nightfall, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and, with the minds still blowing from the north quadrant, it should get very comfortable tonight.

I'll be heading north early tomorrow morning to the land of dial-up connections. Then early Thursday, I'll be bringing the trailer down to Ives Run Campground for a week. Check-in time is 4 PM so I'll have to time my arrival to around that hour.

******

Got most of the things I needed to get done finished today while waiting for Don and Adam. They plumb forgot to show up, however, so Terry gets to deal with them tomorrow afternoon--if they remember. The two of them have so much going on in their lives right now it isn't funny. They were both better off when we were building the Aerie and they had one job to focus on for nine months.

Anywho, I've made arrangements for all the bills to be paid either on-line, automatically, or via credit card so as long as we have email access we're okay. I'll just have to get into a routine for dealing with it. (Actually, there is one car loan that we have to pay with a coupon book. Setting it up to pay electronically would cost an extra $30 a month so we'll do it the old fashioned way. I wonder what they'll think when they get a payment postmarked from Fairbanks and another from Colorado Springs?) Terry will arrange to have the mail stopped and held until we get back.

We've got a reservation for the first weekend on the road (two nights in Volo, IL as we say hi! to our DIL's parents). Good thing I called today, too. The fella on the phone said they are booked for this weekend and had only one or two slots for the 11th and 12th.

Besides the actual tour with the Good Sam folks, these are the only reservations we've made so far. I like to think of it as maintaining flexibility. It wouldn't take a mechanical breakdown on my part to throw everything a kilter. A major accident or construction work could ruin my driving schedule enough that we would want to stop earlier than planned. I've tried to plot a course that will give us plenty of time (no more than 6 hours driving, for instance, and a time limit of from 9 AM to 4 PM) to get where we are going. I even put an extra day in the plans so we can do a little sightseeing or move on to get to Dawson Creek a day early. It's all dependent upon how we feel, what the roads are like, and how the weather behaves.

Yeah, I've--make that WE'VE--planned things out carefully, but a major road trip like this is like a military battle: once it has begun, you can throw the plans out the window. That's one of the reasons we opted to do the bulk of the trip (43 days) with a group that has a Wagon Master and Assistant. Not just the extras such as the meals, tours and shows that Good Sam has arranged, but the logistics of time, distance, and booking a parking space at the campground. Those days should be a snap. It's the fourteen days getting to Dawson Creek and the twenty days getting home that will be a bit of a task. (Although, the layovers in Portland with the kids Colorado Springs with some even bigger kids, will take some of the pressure off.)

Yes. I am rambling--a little. Call it nerves. Or anticipation. There are a million and one things going through my mind: Have I forgotten to do something here at the Aerie--or the Bolt Hole--that needs to get done? Have I packed all the gear I will need? Should I bring this, that, or the other; or will they be just so much extra weight? Are we ready for 75 days on the road?

Oh well, that's why we will have the trailer parked at Ives Run for six days for a shake down/refresher in camping. Just like when you were a little kid camping in the backyard, there's always the option of going inside if things aren't working out.

Crops, Rain, Plans

With plans to be on the road for ten weeks or more, Terry and I were in a quandary as to what we could plant in the garden that could pretty much take care of itself. Zucchini, cucumbers, string beans...were all eliminated from our list since they would require frequent picking to get the good tasting small vegetables and not something the size of a baseball bat.

Then I thought of the Native Americans who would plant their corn, beans, winter squash and pumpkins on their inland farms and then head to the water to escape the deer flies, black flies, etc. and to fish. Corn we would not plant. The raccoons would enjoy it too much and our space is limited. Without the corn stalks for the beans to climb, we would skip the beans as well. Besides, I'm not much of one for shucking dry beans. But winter squash and pumpkins...you betcha!

Having made up our minds, we visited Agway to pick up some starter plants and some more top soil and composted cow manure. I wanted six more bags of top soil to finish covering the 8' x 16' raised bed. The cow manure would be mixed in where I would plant the squash and pumpkins. We bought three 3" pots of Burpee's butternut squash each pot having two healthy looking plants. They ripen in 75 days according to the tag; but whether that's from planting the seeds or planting the seedlings, is another matter. That fits our plans pretty well. As for pumpkins, we got a six-pack of Jack-o-lanterns; two seedlings per cell. They are supposed to mature in 110 days which would mean the end of September. Terry got two six-packs of marigolds to fill in a spot on the end of the onion bed and by the front door where most of the flowers are early spring/summer perennials.

I've never grown either butternut squash or pumpkins before so it will be an interesting experiment. Especially since I won't be here to watch over them.

******

After several weeks with little rain, we got some T-storms that managed to pass over the Aerie last night instead of either avoiding us or dissipating completely. They started just around 5 PM on Monday and got real serious during the night. The drone of the window fan in the bedroom kept me from waking up too often as the thunder rumbled, but a few lightening strikes were too close to be completely drowned out. And a brief power outage killed the fan for a moment, at which the lack of noise woke me up.

Once awake--at 4 AM, getting back to sleep became a problem. I dozed for an hour but then the birds started and it was all over.

At least I know that the newly planted veggies and flowers are well watered.

******

Today, I've a few phone calls to make and some banking to do before heading up to the Bolt Hole to get the trailer. Also, Don and Adam(?) will be coming over this morning to discuss final arrangements for the foundation stone work and log staining to be done while we are away as well as the babysitting of our cats.

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Getting down to the wire! Just 7 days after today. We'll hit the road on the morning of Wednesday, June 9th.