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My thoughts released; a mind set free |
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These pages contain my thoughts, from meandering ideas and persuasions to deep cerebrations and serious mentations. Why, for what purpose? To release my mind and set creativity free. Somewhere inside the constraints of my mind dwells a writer, a poet, an artist who paints with words. In here I release those constraints and set the artist free. Perhaps, lost somewhere in the depths of thought, is a story or a poem, waiting to be written. 
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| Yesterday I bought an older (1996) HiLo fifth wheel camper that is in need of a lot of work. Why? Because the price was right. Do I have anything I can haul a 5th wheel trailer? No. But, they included a 5th wheel hitch and on Tuesday the 9th I will have it installed on my pickup. How much did all of this cost me? I got the camper and 5th wheel hitch for $300.00, and the installation is going to cost about 200.00. or so it's estimated. I haven't checked out everything in the camper, since I don't have any LP gas right now, but the three-way refrigerator works on AC and 12 volts, the air conditioner works, the lift system works (there is a problem with it however). Everything so far works and I'll put in a bottle of gas soon and see if the water heater works as well as the stove, fridge, and furnace. I forgot to take before pictures when I started working today, but I did remember and took some shortly after. The back of the camper sustained some water damage because the previous owner left the windows open. The added weight cause the back of the camper to sag about three inches lower and that is the problem with the lift system. It caused it to bind up and won't come down. I used a hi-lift jack to raise it up to where it should be at and then blocked it up. Because of the water soaked wood, there's some swelling on both back corners, the door could barely be forced open, and the section behind the door has pulled away from the supports. In short, I will likely need to rebuild the section behind the door and possibly the back wall. But, the paneling inside the camper doesn't show any water damage, so I'm hoping the frame is still solid. Now that the top is aligned, the door works fine, there are no soft spots on the floor, and it looks like most of the damage is confined to the section of wall between the door and the back. Oh, and the storage box on the back needs to be rebuilt. It seems most of the water ran down the wall and into the storage box. After aligning the top today I set into the task of cleaning it out. I hauled five kitchen garbage bags of junk out of the camper and then vacuumed the floors, cupboards, and storage areas. What a mess! But not as bad as I anticipated. The person who purchased it second hand used it for one season and then parked it in the yard and let the kids use it for a play house that fall. They left the windows open and the water damage started. It sat like that for two years. I looked for any signs of frozen and busted water lines, but they look intact and it seems it was at least winterized before it sat for two years. In fact, it looks pretty good despite they lack of attention. I likely won't start working on the damage until next week, after we return from hauling a couple of rabbit hutches to our granddaughter. But I'll post about my progress and maybe add a few of the before pictures. The plan right now is to fix the back section so it will raise and lower again before putting time and money into anything else. Until that's done, there isn't much reason to work on anything else. But, once I can raise and lower the top, I'll work on getting it ready to uses. Then, I'll start remodeling the inside a little at a time. |
| Our third camping trip was to a campground we have never visited even though it's only a couple hours away. This was our annual camping trip with my wife's cousin and his wife who we will call Dick and Jane. It was at Glacial Lakes State Park, and it was over the weekend so it was pretty full, but it was quiet. We had adjoining sites with Dick and Jane and enjoyed some warm weather for this camping trip, so no furnace required. Everything went nicely this time around, and what rain we did get was at night. No bad storms but a bit of lightning, thunder, and some light rain made for terrific sleeping. Since we have the two dogs, it's difficult for my wife and I to kayak at the same time, so she went out with Dick and Jane while I took the dogs for nice hike. Later that afternoon I went out kayaking with Dick and did a bit of fishing. I caught a nice large mouth bass, I'd guess about four or five pounds. The next day we all four went hiking with the dogs. We took the trail that went around the lake, about two and a half miles of hills, prairie, and trees. Surprisingly, the bugs weren't very bad and it was an enjoyable hike. We stopped by the swimming area and let the dogs enjoy the water before returning back to camp. We spent the evenings around the fire, cooked over the fire, and dined together. The only down side to this camping outing was I forgot my phone at home so I didn't get any pictures. It was an enjoyable camping trip, but it's not the same as when just my wife and I go camping. I suppose being introverted makes it different as well as when we go with Dick and Jane, they tend to plan out the days. It's always our option to join in or do our own thing, but since we are camping together, we try and join in. The latest camping adventure was lose to home and just the two of us, well and the dogs. I was particularly looking forward to this camp out, but things started going wonky the day before we headed out. My wife was called in to work leaving me to try and get everything packed and organized. Of course, she usually does this so a few things were forgotten. We started out on Sunday, got set up, and enjoyed a nice afternoon. But our only neighbors showed up by dinnertime and the noise started. I couldn't believe how loud they were. After dinner, we sat out by the fire, but their kids were riding bike and would stop right beside us, ring their annoying bike bells, get the dogs worked up, and then ride back, only to repeat this over and over. I finally raised my voice a little and got the point across to quit stopping right there and to lay off the damn bell! Monday they packed up and left, making a lot of noise in the process. My wife got called into work again, so she left shortly after noon. She worked till after midnight, so she just returned home after her shift and came out to the campsite on Tuesday. I was anticipating a very quiet evening with just the two dogs, planning on being lazy around the fire. But, it was very warm our, very humid, and the bugs were terrible. Also, another couple moved into the campsite next to ours. It was an older couple, so I thought at first it would be quiet and peaceful once they got set up. But, they had a couple of little dogs that barked anytime anyone drove past, walked by, and whenever they seen me or the dogs. They also liked to walk past our campsite whenever they needed water (they hauled it in a one gallon watering can so they needed water quite often, despite having a holding tank on their camper), used the vault toilet, or walked their dogs. I should also add, there was a nice trail that sent from their site to the water and toilet that was a shorter distance. Oh, and they didn't walk on the road, they would walk in the grass right next to our mobile tent! On Tuesday, a church group arrived and set up a half dozen tents, but they were pretty quiet most of the afternoon. Or at least anytime we were around. But by eight that night they decided to play soccer and the yelling and noise lasted until after ten. We had thought that camping during the week would mean less people around, but it was very busy the entire time we camped. The lake was bustling with boats, people were hanging around the lakes fishing and swimming. It was hot and humid, and we tried a few times to take the dogs to the lake, but it seemed like wherever we went, someone would show up and spoil the plan. It was like the majority of the people there were rude, intrusive, and went out of their way to encroach upon us. It wasn't a bad camping experience, but it wasn't as peaceful and enjoyable as I had hoped. I was looking forward to some serious quiet and down time after the busy spring we've had. I suppose I'm also a bit over sensitive towards people since it's also been a spring filled with people, interruptions, and demands for my time. Being introverted, I need alone time to refresh, recharge, and rejuvenate myself, and this spring it just hasn't been possible. Next month, we are going to spend four days on a road trip, possibly heading across the painted desert of North Dakota and over to Devil's Tower. It's undecided yet on our destination and if we are going to bring the mobile tent or not. |
| It's almost July and my last entry was back in March. It's been that kind of busy and hectic! Despite this, we have already managed four camping adventures this spring, returning from the latest on June26. The first one was early spring still dropping down to freezing at night. We had an electric site, so we brought along electric heaters to safe on LP fuel. The furnace worked great the first night. I had just gone through it and installed a new blower, so this was a great test. But, we camp in a mobile tent (pop-up camper) and they do not hold heat. Thankfully we had the electric heater as well and between the furnace and electric, it was comfortable. We arrived Friday afternoon and with it being cold and windy, didn't even start a fire. Saturday we had our granddaughter's birthday and didn't get back until late afternoon. It was a sunny afternoon, but windy and chilly. That didn't stop the party north of us, they had music blasting and were yelling over it until about two in the morning. The next day started out the same. The campers across from us woke us early when they started their loud pickup, and the rest of the day was noisy from a church group camped a few sites down from us. But, by late afternoon just about everyone had left the campground and we had our last night camping nice and quiet. it was another chilly evening and cold night, but it just made the fire more enjoyable. Luckily it only dropped to about forty degrees overnight because the furnace quit working. (I believe it was because of the high winds that night blowing straight into the furnace vent.) Our second camp was local and included an online friend of my wife whom we had never met. It all sounded good when we set out, but it soon became another flop of a camping trip. However, the first day was great. We got set up and started a fire to cook over, talked around it until it got too chilly, then went into the camper. With three adults and two dogs, it was a bit crowded, but comfortable. This time, we had no electric hook-up, so we relied on our battery for all power. I brought a second, just in case we needed it, which we did. The first night the furnace did great, and instead of an electric heater, we aided it with a small propane heater. The next morning we woke to rain, thunder, and wind. Being a mobile tent, the wind made it more difficult to hold the heat, so the furnace was running a lot. By early afternoon, it quit; it just wouldn't light. I knew we were low on fuel in the first tank, so I switched them out, but the furnace still wouldn't light. Everything else was working great, but no furnace. I took the cover off to look for any loose connections and jiggled the wires around a bit. Note to self, and I know this; always cut the power before reaching into an electrical component. The back of my right ring finger came into contact with the igniter, and wow, what a rush! No serious injury, luckily, but it left my hand tingling for a few hours. To make a long story shorter, it was a gloomy, rainy day, and I couldn't see well, so I turned on the overhead light. It barely glowed, the battery was almost dead! I switched out the battery and the furnace worked great. Since it rained and stormed all day and late into the night, we stayed inside and played cards and talked. We woke to sunshine the next morning but the day started out rough. The friend who came with, I'll call her Jill, was up super early and went out to enjoy the morning. No problem except in a mobile tent, when one person is up, everyone is awake. I wouldn't have minded, but she let the dogs out without their collars or leashes on! I flew out of bed and rushed out before they could run off chasing something. I confronted her about it, but since I had just woke and hadn't had any coffee, I was a bit gruff about it. I did apologize and explain things a little later, but the damage was done and her feelings were hurt. Also, she hadn't ever gone camping before and didn't want to hike or kayak, and wasn't seeming to enjoy the adventure, so we packed up that afternoon and returned home instead of staying for the next day. That brings us to number three, but I don't want this to get too long, so I'll pick up there in the next entry. |
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I think I'd have to call a septic cleaner to flush out my brain after meeting Norb... I'd send you my muse, but I need it (?) more than you do right now. Best wishes for getting a good one!
