Thursday, October 06, 2011

One more winterization chore complete

So, I made the run up to the Bolt Hole and back yesterday. Some 220 miles one way, 440 round trip. I purposely made no stops in either direction and, as a result, was in the Tundra, driving, for 4+ hours steadily--each way. Upon arriving at my destinations, the only complaint came from having been sitting in one position so long. My legs sorta buckled upon emerging from the cab of the truck. No pain in the knees at all! YAHOO!

Draining the pipes took a little longer than expected. I would run the water from the lowest point--the bottom of the hot water heater--into a 5 gallon bucket buried in the basement floor and then use a submersible pump to get it outside via a hose. I'd fill the bucket slightly over half full and turn on the pump. The pump would suck the water up and heave it out in less than a minute. This would have to be repeated--often. The tank holds upwards of 50 gallons of water and drains fairly slowly if I want to keep it under control.

Once the pipes and hot water tank were emptied, I poured antifreeze in all the traps and the toilet. The cabin is now prepped for anything Ma Nature can throw at it in the way of subfreezing temperatures. Last year it got as low as minus 20 degrees. With no heat it was nearly as cold inside as out. Did you know beer in the can will freeze at minus 20 degrees?

The entire round trip and duties performed took from 8:30 AM until 6:30 PM. Heh, what can I say. It was a nice day for a ride.

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It's that time of year. Although the daytime highs are forecast to be in the 60s, night time lows are int he freezing range. Frost/freeze warnings were posted for both the environs of the Bolt Hole and the Aerie for last night and tonight. Terry found here little yellow Aveo's windshield covered with frost as she went out this morning. The deck railing at the Aerie also had a thin film of frost on it. The zucchini and beans look like they were just touched but they are going to get pulled out today or tomorrow anyway.

Looks like there will be plenty of sunshine for a few days as this Canadian high with it's cold nighttime temperatures settles in for a week or so.

1 comment:

Rev. Paul said...

Glad to hear your knees are so much improved. That's a very good thing.

Your temps are higher than ours, but only a bit. We'll probably hit 50 today, but that's the last time it's expected in the foreseeable future. By Monday, highs will be in the upper 30s and lows in the mid-20s.

But good job getting the weatherization finished at the Bolt Hole; that's one less thing to be concerned about.