Done Cleaning

We drove up to the Bolt Hole this morning (having waited until the post office was open) arriving shortly after 1 PM. Immediately we hitched up the travel trailer and pulled it out of the barn and into the sun where we could at least open the blinds to get some light inside. I reinstalled the two propane tanks and the battery before emptying the outside storage bays. Terry went through the closets, drawers and cabinets to remove everything inside before doing a little washing of the interiors. About two hours after we began, the inside of the trailer looked almost as good as new. Unless we give the outside a good scrubbing, it's not going to get any better. (And it's not going to get that scrubbing unless some passing down pour does the job tonight or tomorrow when we take it to the dealer's.)

We set aside two days to get this particular job done since we weren't sure what the weather would be like or what we might find as we started our clean-up activities. Now we can take off Tuesday morning for Bath, NY (about 180 miles from the Bolt Hole) and drop the 2002 Wilderness travel trailer before heading home to the Aerie and the adulation of our three starving pussycats. Thursday we will go back to Bath to pick up our 2007 Winnebago Access mini-motorhome (Class C).

******

On a side note...I had occasion to peek at the calendar today and all I can say is: Where the hell has August gone? I've got a million things I wanted to do this summer and....whoosh!..August is almost over.

At the Bolt Hole

Terry and I made it up to the Bolt Hole after an uneventful drive. We towed the ATV up on the baby trailer so it would be available for use when we get back from our longish five week journey(s).

Today was a beautiful day with temperatures into the low 80s through Syracuse and Utica. It only reached the mid 70s in the shade at the Bolt Hole but the sun was strong and hot. Only a few late day clouds have shown up but there's no rain in the forecast until next week if you overlook the scattered T-storms they say might (20-40%) hit the area Monday night/Tuesday.

We got right to work unloading the ATV, parking the little trailer and then towing the travel trailer out and hooking up the electricity and water so as to flush the antifreeze from the pipes. Then we (read "Terry") got to work cleaning up all the mouse poop in the cabinets. Meanwhile, I spent my time running down into the basement to reset the circuit breaker when it tripped...which it did--often. I guess the hot water heater and vacuum, plus the house's refrigerator were just a bit too much for the circuit. I also got the air compressor out and tried to get the tires up to the 50 psi they say on the sides. (Actually couldn't get past 48 psi, but that will do.)

The black flies were out in earnest and attacked in mobs. I got several bites on my forearms but just as many drowned in my sweat. Surprisingly, the bites have not raised welts as they usually do, nor do they itch. Have I become immune due to previous exposure? Sure hope so! The little buggers are still royal pains in the ass, but having no after affects from their is a blessing!

Tomorrow, we will be doing a more thorough check of the trailer and go shopping for supplies. Food, of course, tops the list already but right below that is paper goods (used for mouse nests beneath the cabinets) and plastic wrap and aluminum foil (piddled all over by mice with over active bladders).

Oh yeah. I also have to get some cable to fix the garage door. When I parked the ATV inside and pulled the door down, the cable jumped off the pulley. That's when I noticed that the four or five strand cable had just two still intact. I also have to go purchase a small Yankee screwdriver with multiple bits. I left the one I own back at the Aerie in the only tool box that is NOT at the Bolt Hole. (That's something that happens on a regular basis, BTW, and the reason I own two or three of just about everything--except Yankee screwdrivers--yet.)

Traveling Man

I've traveled over 350 miles today and I'm pooped! First it was 225 miles from the Aerie to the Bolt Hole hauling the utility trailer with the ATV on board. A brief stop to unload the ATV and unhitch the UT, a consultation with Mark about the electrical problems (an overloaded circuit fried one outlet and the router melting an extension cord along the way) and what materials we needed to make repairs (he had already run some new wire I had on hand so it was a couple of boxes, outlets, and a router) and I was off to Amsterdam to 1-visit Lowes and Wally World and 2-pick up the travel trailer.

While in route, Mark calls to say forget the router. The person he had look at it--and who said the microchips inside were toast--happened to have someone from phone company at her place today to do some computer/modem/router repairs after a wind storm caused her system to light up like it was the Fourth of July. That tech also looked at our router and switched out the chips. Mark met her halfway between her place and ours and got the thing up and running before I made it back with the TT. Thing works just fine now.

Any who... I got the electrical stuff we need. The travel trailer is parked int he garage. The slide out motor seems to work reasonably well. I'll still have to see about realigning one of the two gears as the rear side is slow to withdraw...but that will wait for another day.

The entire time I was driving today, there were forecasts of sever thunderstorms. I didn't run into any of them. Oh, there were a few sprinkles around Seneca Falls and there were some spots where it had obviously poured just before I arrived, but for the most part the impending sever storms just never happened to me. (Terry says they had strong winds along the PA-NY border and it poured down the hill from the Aerie but she got no rain on the home front. Which is good since it let Don work some more on the stone.)

So. Tomorrow we become electricians. But tonight I'm following the Jets on the intertubes.

Go Gang Green!

(Hope I can stay awake through the entire game.)

Road Trip 2010: Days 17 & 18 Ft. Nelson to Liard Hot Springs to Watson Lake

Oy vey!

We've been on the road for the last two days and the internet service has been...well, shall we say...spotty at best.

We're currently camped at Watson Lake, Yukon and I've tons of photos to chose from. I hope to get some of them up later...if I can stay/get back on line.

Road Trip 2010: Day 11Edmonton, AB to Dawson Creek, BC

Today we left the Glowing Embers Campground on the west side of Edmonton and directed the nose of the Tundra toward Dawson Creek. The sky was blue and, after starting out in the mid 50s, the temperature rose to the mid 80s by late this afternoon. Not a drop of rain anywhere along the way.

After approximately 375 miles, we pulled into the Mile "0" Campground on Highway 97 North in Dawson Creek.

We had hoped against luck to get into the Northern Lights Campground on Highway 97 South from which our Good Sam Caraventure will depart on Wednesday, but they were totally booked for the weekend.

The ride up Highway 43 was uneventful. We did pass one deer farm (none were visible in the pens although we spotted a few along the highway) and one elk farm (lots of the big critters lounging in the sun), but there were no moose visible despite some very moosey looking territory. Lots of huge beaver lodges in the ponds along side the road and one very large, very angry looking statue of a beaver in the town of Beaverlodge.

It seemed that half the ride was along a very slight ridge on a very large plateau that afforded miles and miles of views.

The highway itself was, for the most part, a divided four-lane structure. Only when it entered into a larger town did it become undivided. Speed limits were in the 100-110 kph range for much of the way and, although I kept the Tundra's speedometer right around that range (translates to 62 to 67 mph) I was still getting passed like I was parked.

The price of gasoline rose from a low of 97 cents per litre in Edmonton to $1.05 in Dawson Creek. But we did get full service at our last fill up. Yep. Someone pumped my gas and I wasn't in NJ or Oregon. He even washed my windshield!

I can't be sure yet, but the alignment of the trailer's axles may have boosted by mpg. I only ran two tanks of gas through the Tundra today and the ride was anything but flat with lots of ups and downs but the mpg average after each fill-up was between 0.5 and 0.75 mpg higher than the last few fill-ups heading into Edmonton.

[On a side note: Why is it that it takes so long to grind your way up a slope with mpg readings of 4.5 and 5.5 and so short a time to go down the same slope when the readings are 85 and 99 mpg? Your kinetic energy and potential energy are the same either way. No? Must be an awful lot of air resistance and drag on the vehicle.]

Tomorrow we will be go into over to the Northern Lights Campground to register with our wagon master and introduce ourselves to those who are already on hand. Dick (our wagon master) says they will have a cake to celebrate Fathers' Day.

[It is currently 10 PM local--that is Mountain--Time, and the sun has just set. This is going to be tougher than I thought.]

Road Trip 2010: Days 10Edmonton, AB

So. How did your day go?

Ours got off to a rousing start when, with my mind racing at 120 kmp, I woke up at 3 AM local and could not get back to sleep. I don't think was--at least I hope it wasn't--the early dawn light. (As we are further north the period of light is increasing daily. It's light until nearly 10:30 PM and light again at 4 AM. It will get worse(?) in the next few days as we head further north and it gets closer to the solstice.) Terry's snoring contributed to my wakefulness but so did concern about the tire issue on the trailer.

Anyway, we eventually got the trailer hooked up and on the road in search of repairs.

The good news is that, after two false starts wherein I was looking for "Dave" only to realize I wanted "Bruce" Henderson, we did, indeed, locate Bruce. (You would think that a little thing like the wrong first name wouldn't have created a problem since "Henderson" did work at the first place we stopped and used to work at the second--which was a short hop down the road--but you would be wrong. Neither place heard the "Henderson" after the erroneous "Dave". *sigh*)

Anyway, like I said, we did finally locate Bruce Henderson. Unfortunately, the bad news is that after he looked at the tires (a second tire on the opposite side and other axle was also showing signs of irregular wear) and consulted with another co-worker with experience in the area, he concluded the trailer might be suffering from misalignment and, even if they could diagnose the problem, their shop could not make the needed repairs.

The good news is that Camper Care (Bruce's workplace) was able to find a facility--Kal Tire--that could do the alignment AND provide two new tires to replace those that were worn.

We hustled on over to Kal Tire, dropped the trailer off with them (nearly 2 hours before our "appointment") and went on our way to Fort Edmonton for the day.

******

Fort Edmonton is a huge complex that is a living museum. Individual streets are arranged to represent the 1920s, 1905, 1885 and the Fort itself is set up as if it were 1800-1870s.

Terry and I got to Fort Edmonton at five minutes to 10 AM and found the entrance literally crawling with school kids. With a week or two to go, they are all making their class trips. They were all queued up with their teachers and chaperons to enter the park when the gates opened at 10 AM.

Luckily, there were special morning programs planned over at the fort proper which is on the other side of the park, so 90% of the crowd got on the early steam train to make the trip to 1850 while Terry and I decided to walk back in time starting with 1920.

We stopped at various homes, shops and offices along the way to examine the grounds and talk to the reenacters/interpreters who really knew their stuff!

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Except for the constant, annoying fall of the cottonwood fluff! Quieter than the little kids, it was just as abundant. With little breeze blowing, the fluff slowly drifted to the ground like large snowflakes. And, like snow, it formed drifts several inches deep along the edges of the street. It either blew or was caught up in the movement of hyperactive children to enter into every building. It got everywhere. At least, most of the 1920s buildings had screens on their windows and that kept some of it at bay.

When 3:15 PM arrived we had wandered our way through the park and had finished speaking with two Hudson Bay men operating the trading post in the Fort. It was time to return to 2010 and find out how Kal Tire had made out with our trailer. We took the steam train back to the future.

******

Retracing our steps from Fort Edmonton to Kal Tire was a snap and when we got there, we found that they had completed the needed work on the trailer and more. BOTH axles were out of true with respect to the frame of the trailer. Brian, said that it's not an uncommon thing. A deep hole, a jarring bump, a poorly navigated curb--could toss the axles out. He also said that many "holiday" trailers are out of true when they are sold. He's not sure why, but he is pretty confident that fully half of the trailers on the road were out of alignment when they were sold.

It cost us a pretty penny ($450 CA) but the trailer axles are now aligned AND we have two new radial tires on where the worn tires once road AND the other two tires have new stems--something I didn't mention but which I certainly needed as the old, original tires were starting to show cracks.

Not a bad day, eh?

Tomorrow we are off to Dawson Creek, if they have room for us. We don't have to be there until the 22nd (Tuesday), but we could use a day or two to tour Dawson Creek and/or lounge around. Not to mention the need to find a bank. Canadian money gets spent even faster the the US dollar.

If we don't lose our internet connection again tonight (like we did last night) I'll be posting some pictures from the Ukrainian Village and Fort Edmonton a little later.

Road Trip 2010: Days 8 & 9Regina to Edmonton, AB

We left Regina early Wednesday morning and found our way to Highway 16 heading northwest to Saskatoon and on to Battleford. Along the way we managed to see several pronghorn antelope, many hawks and ducks, several Western Meadowlarks, a couple of hummingbirds up on the telephone wires, and—what Terry identified as—a Greater White-fronted Goose. (The latter, according to Sibley’s is easily confused with a domestic barnyard goose. But the nearest “barnyard” was at least a mile away. And we were traveling at 60 mph.)

We did find a scenic overlook of the Saskatchewan River at which to have our lunch. It was the ONLY place designated for a pull out along the road from Regina to Battleford. There were no rest rooms, but we had our own in the trailer. And the place was a mess despite a historical marker erected by the local society and a pair of huge plaques: one about the Whopping Crane that passes through the area during migration and the other about the boats devised for use in commerce up and down the river in the 1800s. Although the site needs some TLC, the view was excellent.

We camped in Battleford, SK on Wednesday night at the Eiling Kramer Campground. The original town was the capital of the northwest back in the days before the railroad came out this way. Then things shifted south as did the industry and almost everything else. Before that, however, there was a bit of a to do in the 1880s when the First Nations, which had signed a treaty (thick with promises, short on substance, and long on greed, political, nepotism, and greed—sound familiar?) after the buffalo were virtually eradicated from their range, became disillusioned and held a mini civil war. At that time, Battleford became the center of action with the Northwest Mounted Police attempting to establish just who was boss with the backing of the Canadian military and Fort Battleford—or what little remains of it—commemorates the men and events involved in that action. The guided tour Terry and I took with our own personal guide was well worth the entrance fee. The young man really knew his history and presented it in a pleasant enough way.

The First Nations and Metis turned out to be the boss in everything but desire to succeed. They whipped both the Mounties and the military; who were still fighting like it was a Napoleonic force—red wool coats, single shot rifles, stand up in rows, wait to be shot. Only the First Nations’ leaders’ peaceful nature prevented a massacre similar to that suffered by Custer in the states. Only, the Metis had just 50 warriors on their side while the Canadian force had 350—and a commander who believed he was outnumbered. When the First Nations’ leaders finally came in to talk about the situation, they were held prisoner and sentenced to 3 years in prison despite doing everything in their power to prevent bloodshed. Still, that was better than eight of their number who, refused the food and help promised them in treaty, killed an Indian agent and several towns people. They were hung in mass at Fort Battleford--the one and only mass hanging in Canadian history. Two additional leaders of the Metis uprising had very disparate fates. Louis Riel, who had run afoul of the authorities previously and escaped to Montana, wasn’t so lucky this time around. He was found guilty of treason and hung in Regina. Another leader, did make his way to the states where he signed on with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show as a sharp shooter.

Day 9 Battleford to Edmonton

We followed Highway 16 northwest out of Battleford and headed to Edmonton early on Thursday morning. Along the way we came upon the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, a living museum dedicated to the men and women of the Ukraine who came over to Canada at the urging of the government to homestead Alberta early in the 20th Century. Their passage by boat and train paid for, 160 acres of land awaiting them, they left the old country to make a new start. The Village is a living museum with buildings from all over the province arranged to give a depiction of what it would have been like between the 1860s (sod house) and 1928. Folks dressed in the garb of the day answer questions about their homes and livelihood in this new land. Participants ranged from new immigrants (only here for three months) who can speak no English to third generation storekeepers and blacksmiths who are quite fluent in English and adapted to their new land and an even newer century. It was an enjoyable walk and we had a good time interacting with the players.

A short distance further along Highway 16 was Elk Island National Park (fee for entrance) which had a huge, sturdy fence along the highway. Not necessarily for elk, either. There was a herd of bison lounging on the other side. Probably in the neighborhood of 200 animals including bulls, cows and calves. (Sorry, the camera had been put away and traffic was moving at 60 mph anyway.)

Earlier in the day, Terry noticed a bad spot on one of the trailer tires. I drove on and succeeded in making it to the Glowing Embers Campground on the western side of Edmonton with the tire intact. I was going to attempt to put the spare on, Terry won’t let me try because the owner’s manual recommends that you have a professional do the job and, I think she’s afraid I’d screw it up somehow. (The manual doesn’t even supply any instructions on how to change a flat--nothing beyond, “call your road service provider.”) But there is a guy a short distance down the road that will make the switch—tomorrow. Which means, I’ll have to hook up the trailer in the morning and haul it over to his shop and then back again to the campground. Why can’t he do the change here? He says he doesn’t have a portable jack and he works on RVs and motor homes more than trailers. You can bet I’ll be paying attention to where he jacks the trailer up.

Right now, it’s time to go out for dinner and fill the Tundra with expensive Canadian gasoline…again. So far we’ve paid between $0.87 CA and $1.02 CA per litre. Which translates to between $3.60 to $4.00 per gallon. The last two days, I was able to average 8.8 and 8.9 miles per gallon which was an improvement over what I was getting in the states. I may have slipped some non-ethanol gas in the tank or it might just be that things have been pretty dang flat! Today I didn’t fare as well, but that’s because I was battling a wind that was quartering out of the NNW as I headed NW—about as close to a head wind as you can get. As a result, the Tundra/trailer combo only got 8.1 and 8.2 mpg.

After we get the tire taken care of and the trailer back in its slot at the campground Friday morning, we’ll have to see about getting a new spare. THEN we can go over to Fort Edmonton Park—Canada’s largest living museum.

Road Trip 2010: Day 3-5, June 11-13Chicago and Through Wisconsin

We arrived in Volo, IL late Friday afternoon and made arrangements to go visit with Cindy and John, our DIL's parents. They live about 12 miles south--and closer to the city of Chicago--in Long Grove.

The four of us went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens for a short walk among the roses. (Turns out it was a good thing we did it Friday. The rains moved in and made us reluctant to go anywhere on Saturday as there were pretty heavy T-storms all around.)

Terry, Cindy and John pose in front of one of the many beautiful roses
currently blooming at the Chicago Botanical Garden.

Rosa 'Jaccinqo' Candelabra (TM) Grandiflora Rose

Roses were the big draw at the Gardens but there were other flowers that hadn't yet faded into summer obscurity.

Irises near the waterfall gardens.

We only got to see a small portion of the grounds on Friday and our plans to see more on Saturday were more or less ppd by rain. But what we did see we liked. It's easy to see why John makes regular trips to the Gardens. There's a lot to see and it changes frequently as they are swift to remove the old flowers/plants and put in new ones as the season progresses.

Bronze at the Chicago Botanical Gardens.

******

After our all too brief walk, we went back to John and Cindy's home to pick up Jackie and head out to dinner...at Morton's Steakhouse. Way too good. Way too filling. And way too expensive. I'm thankful that 1) there are none near us in PA and 2) John picked up the tab, refusing my offer to help.

******

Saturday we ran into T-storms as we returned to John and Cindy's home and they, along with a forecast that said more were on the way, curtailed our activities for the day. Instead of returning to the Gardens or even taking the longer drive into the city to go to the Shedd Museum, we opted to just sit and visit for a couple of hours during which we mostly gossiped about the kids--who weren't there to defend themselves. Then we went out to a late lunch at a nearby barbecue place that had some great ribs. (This time, John did let me pick up the tab.)

As John, Cindy and Jackie were to be heading up to the shores of Lake Superior on Sunday morning and we were to be heading out as well, we opted to call it an early afternoon and return to our respective homes/trailers.

******

Sunday morning Terry and I quickly packed up and got on the road heading first north and then west from Volo, IL (on Route 12) and into Wisconsin where we picked up I-94 north and then west. We were just zooming along making great time all the way past the Dells, around Madison, and through the rest of Wisconsin. What road construction there was, wasn't happening on Sunday. There was still a considerable amount of traffic on the road but it was all moving at--or slightly above--the speed limit.

We cruised along just going with the flow all the way into Minnesota and then past St. Paul (taking I-694 along the northern edge of the Twin Cities). Terry then called ahead to "reserve" a camp site in St. Cloud-Clearwater. "We'll be there in about 45 minutes," she says over the phone. That's when I see the Cabela's sign.

Just outside St. Paul there's a Cabela's. Time to rest anyway. Terry decides she needs a lighter rain jacket. We decide to get another Thermocell mosquito repellent--we left two of them sitting back in the spare bedroom in the Aerie. (We also got some Bens wipes and spray, 100% DEET--just in case it's too windy for the Thermocell to work.) They also had a nice looking little spinning outfit on sale--and Terry pointed it out to me. I'm slow some times but I ain't no fool! So it was a 45 minute delay that was well worth the time. Besides (almost) all of it was covered by the Cabela's points I had accumulated. I think the total was just a tad over $30 out of my pocket. (Well, actually, on the Cabela's card where it can earn double points.)

We covered 420 miles today in just over 8 hours from the time we left the campground in Volo to the time we pulled in here at Clearwater, MN.

Oh, and when we told the gal at the desk at the camp ground why we were a little later than Terry had said, she just shook her head and grinned.

******

Tomorrow is to be an even longer driving day as we continue to the west and then to the northwest, passing through Fargo, ND to Minot, ND on our way toward the Canadian border. Some 475 miles in all. But, we were able to leave the trailer hitched to the truck, we have no need to make a stop at the dump station (did that chore this morning back in Volo), and we have all our Cabela's shopping behind us--unless Fargo has one there. We have discovered we need one electrical plug/adapter so we'll be able to handle all possible combinations at the campgrounds: an adapter that will take a 3-prong wire to 30-amp outlet. I've got the opposite: 30-amp wire to a 3-prong grounded outlet, but not the one we rang into tonight. So we will be looking for a Camping World--just like the one that was next to the Cabela's this afternoon. That stop won't take long, however. So we should make it to Minot by 5 PM, local (Central).

Road Trip 2010: Day 1, June 9

Wahoo! We are on our way!

The trial camp at Ives Run proved a success. We identified several small items we needed to improve upon and correct before we get long into our trek. There was the leaking faucet issue, the stuck gauge in the black water tank, learning how to flush the holding tanks--again, and the inadequate foot air pump (supposedly good for flats/low tires but really no god at all).

The faucet got replaced and I’ve now got a spare washer for those that remain—plus I’ve learned where to get a replacement for the bathroom if it becomes necessary.

The stuck gauge was remedied with the use of some tank cleaning chemicals recommended by the couple running the store at Ives Run. Two ounces in the tank, lots of water to slosh around and—voila!—it started to light up and showing how much was in the tank.

We also used a dump station instead of a campsite hook-up for the first time. Flushing both the black water (toilet) and grey water (sinks and shower). Once the tanks were emptied we dumped about three gallons of water into the black tank and again added 2 oz of cleaning fluid. The days ride sloshed it around really well and should have resulted in it getting really, really cleaned inside. (Well, as clean as a black water tank can get.)

All four tires on the trailer were recording 48-49 psi instead of the 50 that’s recommended. I had a foot operated pump that is supposed to be able to inflate car tires. It did nothing to increase the pressure in the trailer tires those two lousy pounds. So….I ran back to the Aerie and got my pancake compressor. It easily put those two pounds into the tires and more if need be. Besides, almost all camp grounds have electricity and even if they don’t, the trailer is equipped with an inverter that will change 12 volt DC power to 110 volt AC allowing me to use the compressor. As a result, it, along with a second spare for the trailer (Ryan could not get one for the truck in the short time I allotted him), joined the other spare parts/tools in the back of the truck.

Day 1

Driving time: 5 hours, 15 minutes (including breaks for lunch, restroom and refueling)

Distance: 268.3 miles

Today we got up bright and all too early to hitch up the Tundra to The Trailer and head on down the road. The coffee pot started performing at 6:15 AM and that dripping water makes it impossible to stay in bed. Breakfast was finished, Terry had showered (discovering that the grey water tank was definitely FULL in the process) and we were hitched up and rolling just as the drizzle started.

First stop, of course, was the pump station at Ives Run to flush the accumulated grey and black water out of the holding tanks—a task that, while not pleasant, went rather swiftly even in—or maybe because of—the rain.

Second stop: the Tioga PO to drop a couple things in the mail.

Then we were heading north on Route 15 to Route 17/I-86 in NYS. (On second thought, it would have been better to head south on Route 287 and pick up Route 6 west. Route 17 makes a huge swing to the north to reach Bath before heading southwest again.) Our path took us from PA, through NYS, PA, and into OH. We left Ives Run at 8 AM and pulled into Kennisee’s Grand River Camp (just off I-90 at Exit 218) at 1:15 PM (5 hr, 15 min) Total distance for the day: 268.3 mi.

It rained the entire time we were on Route 17 in NYS ending about when we got to the NY/PA border.

Major construction along the PA stretch of I-90 as the road was down to just one lane where they are rebuilding a bridge across a very deep ravine near Erie. Huge, huge crane being used to lift the immense I-beams into place. This was the only traffic related delay we ran into all day.

The road west of Olean, NY was horrendous. Made of concrete, it hasn't been repaired in decades and the frost heaving has created a bump at every, blankity-blank joint. There was a whole lot of sloshing going on in the holding tanks, and my brain and bladder, as we rocked back and forth over that stretch of Route 17 that goes through the Seneca Nation Lands, let me tell you!

Already all my careful plans have been altered. Kennisee’s is not the campground I initially chose (we were to be on the shores of Lake Erie) but Kennisee’s is the one at which we are staying. We’ve been here before and it’s a nice place, closer to the main highway (yet far enough away to only hear a slight rumble), and a member of the Good Sam Club so there’s a little discount there. The same is true for tomorrow, I’ve already chosen a different campground than that I had initially planned on using. If they’ve got room for us tomorrow we’ll be in Elkhart, IN just east of Great Bend.

More later, maybe. There's a woodpecker out here taunting me to come out and play.

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.

******

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....)

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

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.

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.

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

Aerie Report, May 28, 2010

The last two days have been 3-H days here at the Aerie: Hazy, Hot and Humid.

We did not get the record heat on Thursday we were told was a possibility, but it was hot enough as it got up to 87 late in the day. None of the T-storms showed up to cool things off either. They all swept past far to our east ending up in the NY-NJ area around 6 PM.

Today had all the makings of another scorcher but the weak front that moved through late yesterday kept the temperature to a mere 80 degrees. Still, the humidity started off around 70% and dropped down to just 60% late this afternoon. Once again, the widely scattered showers missed us almost completely. I say almost because we got about 10 drops around 1:30 in the afternoon and Terry, who was east of here driving home actually had to put her wipers on for a short time. Granted they were on the intermittent setting, but still....

We'll get one more "cool" day of around 80 before Sunday and Monday head back close to 90. After that, however, we'll be back to highs in the 70-80 range and lows in the 55-60 vicinity.

Just get rid of the humidity and I'll be happy. Cutting grass this afternoon was no walk in the park.

******

I did see another--or maybe it was the same--garter snake while cutting the lawn today. It was all bright and shiny as if it had just shed its skin. (Last one I saw was dull and drab with scales covering its eyes that were nearly opaque.) It slithered off into the tall grasses on the edge of the lawn where I do not cut. I wished him(?) happy hunting in his search for crickets and worms.

******

Yesterday I booked six nights at Ives Run Campground (a Corps of Engineers facility on Hammond Lake) via the government website: www.recreation.gov. Terry and I thought it would be easier to gear up by bringing the trailer down here rather than trying to bring all our stuff up to the Bolt Hole. We could have parked it in the Aerie's driveway, but with the number of dump trucks going up and down this road lately (windmills and gas lines) things are a bit cramped on the 1 1/2 lanes. Not to mention dusty. Besides, by using the campground (with its water and electrical hook-ups, we'll be able to test things out before we actually hit the road on June 9th.

I was pretty impressed with the reservation system for national campgrounds at www.recreation.com. You can pretty much search for federal facilities in any state, near any town/city, or by the name of the facility. You can see what sites are available, what size they are (an important factor when you've got a large RV/motorhome/trailer), what kind of hook-ups they have, what amenities they offer, and more. Then, once you've made a choice, you can book your stay paying by credit card.

So I'll be heading up to the Bolt Hole next week to haul the trailer down to the campground on the 3rd of June. Then the fun of packing up begins. Not that we haven't already started....

Bolt Hole Report, April 20, 2010

head out of the Aerie early this morning headed northeast to pick up the trailer. It was a great and glorious day to be out and about. It would have been even better if it was spent in the garden or the woods. But, things have to get done.

The trailer was ready with a note that the battery (12V deep cycle RV/Marine type) was a little wonky with its electrolyte balance and, while working fine at the moment, would probably need replacing soon. Since Alpin Haus had some on the shelf, I figured there was no time like the present. So while they searched for the trailer's keys (too many techs and too many locations for them to put 'em!)--and for the trailer--I looked over the battery selection and made a choice of a nice new Interstate.

I have to admit, I am to blame for the old battery's failure. When not in use, you should recharge it once a month and never, ever leave it out in the freezing weather. I had two strikes against me and I wasn't about to take a chance on number three while we were on the road.

All the inspections and repairs and battery cost me a pretty penny (or closer to 10K of them) but I feel very confident in the working condition of the old girl now. And those 10K pennies? Less than one per mile of this upcoming trip.

******

So, after driving 225 miles to Alpin Haus in Amsterdam to pick up the trailer, I drove another 70 miles with trailer in tow to the Bolt Hole to put it in the barn for the next five weeks or so. Come the end of May, it will be taken down to Hills Creek State Park in PA there to be a home away from home, so to speak, while we load her up for The Trip. Easier to do that when we are just 20 miles from the Aerie instead of doing it at the Bolt Hole, 225 miles away. I'd park it in the Aerie's driveway, but it's not quite flat enough nor an easy place access water or electricity. For less than $200 I can have a lakeside camp site for a week, access to a Wally World, several supermarkets and the Aerie while we make out our packing lists.

******

When I got to the Bolt Hole I found that Mark was still at his cabin--and that he had parked his truck in the barn to make my place look occupied. We had a nice long talk while he showed me some new game pics of bears (Dufus, mostly) and deer from a spot behind his place. Then he came over to my place to move his truck and help me back the trailer into the barn. One pass is all it took. I'm getting pretty good at this! We also dug out some things from the garage that will go south with me including the box I built to serve as a portable kitchen when we went across country with the kids back in '93. It will be used for canned goods and cooking gear on this trip.

******

I stepped outside just after dark to get a jacket I had left in the truck and was privy to the mating flight of a male woodcock. The "peent" call from the ground is followed by a tightly spiraling flight upward during which the bird is whistling the entire time. Up and up he goes until suddenly he stops and swiftly glides back to the ground--some times in the same spot from which he launched his flight, some times to a slightly more promising location--and the "peent" call is repeated. It's one awesome sight!

******

The water in the small pond in front of the Bolt Hole is about six inches lower than it was a month ago but it is still host to several frogs an newts--and their masses of jellied eggs. You can clearly see that most of the eggs are already developing into either tadpoles or efts. The little black dot in the center of the jelly is no longer spherical but elongated.

There are another set of eggs in there, however, that do not belong to the common newt or the frogs. These are quite a bit larger and, while still enmeshed in jelly, are single rows about 3/4 of an inch wide. The center of the strips contains a 1/4 inch diameter, very white, orb. These probably belong to a spotted salamander which I've raked out of there in the past. Six inches long, 3/4 to an inch wide, very black on the back, white underbelly and a pale blue-purple stripe where the black and white meet. Add the bright yellow polka dots over the back and you have a very pretty little creature.

******

Well, that's about it for now. Tomorrow, I'll be up early to brew a half pot of coffee, do the dishes and then head out the door for the Aerie.

Bolt Hole Report, March 30, PM Edition

Took the trailer to the shop today to get it thoroughly inspected and get the wheel bearings greased up. No problem getting there as it hadn't started raining here. In fact, it was 29 degrees when I left so frost on the windshield and mirrors was more of a problem. Going down the road from the Bolt Hole was also not a big problem even if I had to do it at around 20 miles per hour since the road is terribly frost heaved. Once on the main roads and thruway things went very well and I was able to maintain the speed limit or just slightly to either side.

Got to the Aspin Haus about 20 minutes early and parked the rig off to the side while I went in to let them know I had arrived. Since it had started raining by then, I chose to stay in the lounge to read and do crossword puzzles until they finished their work. Which took nearly five hours.

Upon completion, I learned that A) the furnace did not light B) the AC did not work and C) when they turned on one or more of the interior lights it blew a fuse--over and over.

I immediately asked that they set an appointment to make the necessary repairs. Their earliest opening was for this Friday. I asked--and was granted permission--to leave the trailer int heir yard so I would not have to haul it back and forth and so I could return to PA for a couple of days.

So, the Wilderness trailer is in the shop for at least a week. Maybe more if they have to order parts. They will call with any developments.

Having made arrangements to get the trailer repaired, I headed back to the Bolt Hole in what can be described as a monsoon. Heavy, heavy rains have been falling since about 11 AM without a let up. Flood warnings/watches have been given and creeks and rivers are fast rising. All except the Mohawk, Having opened the sluice gates located at all the locks for the Erie Canal, the river is very, very low. The flow is probably scouring the channel deeper and that means better sailing once the gates are closed and the locks open next month. Just mind the buoys! For the channel may be deep, but the shoreline has many, many shallow sand and gravel bars which are currently highly visible if not dry.

I'm heading back to the Aerie where Terry says it's two degrees colder than my 36 degrees and where it is snowing. At least the propane feeding the furnace in the Aerie keeps things a little more even temperature-wise than the wood stoves of the Bolt Hole. In the last 24 hours I've had an indoor high of 71 and low of 51 degrees. The latter being what I found when I got back and after the fires had burned out much earlier.

If the weather forecasts are to be believed (remember--block of salt!), it will be sunny and high 70s from tomorrow noon through Easter Sunday. Great birding weather! Unlike the rainy, raw, mid 30's I've had here since Sunday.

Bolt Hole Report, March 27, 2010 PM Edition

Today was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Sure, it started cold (10.9 degrees at 7 AM) but it did warm up to 39.9 degrees late this afternoon under the bright sun. And with little wind, it was a pleasure to walk about outside. Early in the day, while it was still cold, the little snow that remained was frozen solid enough and crusty enough to walk on top and not get that wet stuff in the low boots I had on. There are a few limbs and treetops blown down or broken off from the weight of snow, but the main trails seemed open. And there were deer tracks in the snow from the other day; their edges still sharp and crisp.

******

Mark is here and we had a lengthy chat...well, he chatted, while I listened which is about normal. He says he saw a half dozen deer in my yard two evenings ago just around sunset. I must have been away from the windows at the time. He's still looking for work and trying to make ends meet with the occasional day jobs.

******

I went out to the barn to check the battery again and, while the charger's light hadn't come on to indicate a full charge, the battery itself was hissing and bubbling to indicate it might, in fact, be over charged. I went into the trailer and found there were still no lights on the DC circuit and, if the battery was charged, they should have come on. I then checked the circuit breakers and the fuse box but everything was in order.

Finally, Mark came over with a battery tester and we checked to see if the darn thing was indeed charged. Yep. A ful 12 volts registered on the meter. We checked the wires leading under the trailer and they were A-OK. We double checked the electric board and he confirmed that the breakers and fuses were good. Then we disconnected the battery and checked it again. Still reading 12 volts--a full charge. We reconnected the battery and stepped inside the trailer.... Lo and behold! The system was working! Although there was no corrosion visible on the battery's poles, there must have been something interfering with a tight connection when I hooked it up the first time. Our disconnecting and reconnecting the wires made that connection good.

This is a big deal not just because I didn't want to pay for a new battery, but the electronic brakes on the trailer run off that battery. Without a functioning battery, the emergency brakes on the trailer do not work. Should the trailer break free from the Tundra for any reason, the trailer would not come to a stop until it had plowed a nice big furrow in the highway...if then. Nothing worse than having your trailer pass you on the NYS Thruway!

We hitched the trailer up and pulled it out of the barn onto the lawn so it can get a bit of an air bath before it goes to the doctor for a checkup on Tuesday. I checked the tire pressure all around and found that all four were between 46 and 48 PSI. Since the temperature was still around 34 degrees at the time and the tires are rated for 50 PSI max, we decided not to put any additional air in them for now. I'll check again on Monday when I hitch it up for its little trip and, if need be, put a couple of pounds in each tire.

The interior is almost as clean as when Terry and I vacuumed out the mouse droppings and cleaned out the drawers last fall. I could find only one little collection of droppings on the couch which were easy enough to sweep up. All the stuff in the drawers and closets are still clean and there's no old magazines or valuables in there to worry about.

Once the exam is over and any repairs made, I'll be putting it back in the barn until late May/early June. Then I'll take it down to PA and rent a campground spot at the Hills Creek or Ive's Run for a couple of weeks. That will make it easier for Terry and I to pack for our trip to Alaska and points west. At least that's the plan. (Shhhh. I think I hear God laughing.)

Bolt Hole report, March 27, 2010

A very chilly 11 degrees at the Bolt Hole this morning at 7 AM. The winds have abated, however, so what you see is what you get. And the sun, shining brightly with out a cloud to block its rays, will have things warmed up in no time...right? Well, weather.com says it will get near 40 today which is a huge improvement over the high of just 32 I had yesterday.

It's not much better down at the Aerie where Terry says it was 13 degrees this AM. The snow, which was only above 1800 feet is almost all gone. She''l see the high around 50 or so today.

The long range forecast calls for temperatures to warm ever so slightly and some rain/snow showers on Monday into Tuesday. Figures. Tuesday's the day I have to haul the trailer over to Amsterdam for service.

******

I've had the trailer's battery on charge for two days and it doesn't seem to want to take. Three years of storage have not been kind. If that's all that needs replacing I'll count myself lucky.

The inside has little to be cleaned up. Terry and I did a little when we had it down to the Aerie last September and there doesn't seem to have been any mouse infestation or other critters inside. Come to think of it, there aren't any signs of mice in the cabin either. Perhaps the presence of the fisher cat, red fox and others in the area have put a dent in the population of mice and red squirrels? Only sign of the red squirrels is the remains of pine cones in the woodshed and basement.

******

When I finish my (second) cup of coffee, I'll take a walk into the woods and see what sort of winter damage there may have been. Driving down the road I see lots of blowdowns and snapped trees I hadn't noticed when I was here last.

Bolt Hole Report, March 24, 2010

I left the Aerie this morning around 9:30 AM heading northeast, then north and finally northwest. Terry went almost due north to a sit-and-stitch in Horseheads, NY. I traveled through Maryland, Florida, Amsterdam, Danube, Russia, Poland, Norway, Utica, and Ohio. In case you can't guess, those are all names of New York towns and villages. (The village of Poland is in the town of Russia. Mmmmm?)

Just outside of Amsterdam, I stopped at the Alpin Haus Camping World and made arrangements to have the travel trailer inspected. The earliest they could fit me in is Tuesday so I'll be here at he Bolt Hole all week--maybe longer if there's a problem that needs fixing. The Tuesday date gives me ample time to do a little house cleaning, charge up the trailer's battery, check the tire pressure, etc.

Virtually no snow on the ground except in the shaded woods or where it got piled higher from plowing or falling off roofs. Even so, it was 43 degrees inside the cabin and 45 degrees outside when I arrived at 3:30 PM. Needless to say, I cranked the fires up in both wood burning stoves and it's quite comfortable now. With 32 degrees outside and 70 degrees inside it may even be too warm inside. (Beats the heck out of the minus 18 degree low outside that occurred sometime since my last visit. The lowest it got inside was minus 12 degrees.)

There was a woodcock peenting his love call from the field behind the garage (that's the Phase One apple orchard recovery area) when I got back from making a trip down to Wally-World for a few staples. A good sign that all is well in the world. (Except having to use dial-up! Grrrrr!)

Aerie Report, March 23, 2010My Turn

I'll be heading up to the Bolt Hole tomorrow morning. I need to see if any snow remains in the yard and if I can get the trailer out of the barn. If the answers are "none" and "yes" then I'll drive over to Alpin Camping World (I think that's it's name) in Amsterdam to see if I can bring the trailer in for a checkup and a lube job. I know the water system needs to be flushed, the heating and AC units checked out, and a few other things done before our Big Trip. Hopefully the tires are in good enough shape--they've only been to Colorado Spring (twice) and Atlanta (once) since I bought the trailer. I'll need to price a spare tire and rim for the trailer anyway.

If the answer turns out to be "too much" and "no" then I'll just have to clean the inside of the trailer as best I can and get it ready for its run to the shop. From the latest pictures that Mark sent, however, I do not think that will be a problem.

******

It was a foggy, foggy day today at the Aerie. Cloud ceiling was somewhere below 2000 feet and the winds were nonexistent, so we were in the clouds almost all day. Occasionally we would get rain but it was mostly drizzle and mist, mist and drizzle all day long right up to 5:30 PM when the northern wind kicked it up a notch or two and blew the clouds up the hillside and high into the air. It's still not clear, but the clouds are now above us where they belong.

It IS supposed to be getting clear and sunny for the next three or four days both here and up at the Bolt Hole. While it will be comfortable during the day (40s and 50s) it might get down right chilly at night up north with a low on Thursday night in the mid to low teens predicted.

******

Fishing season is right around the corner. In NYS it starts on April 1 regardless of what the weatherman says. Often it's during a snow storm. Might be this year too. Snow is predicted for the 30th and 31st of March. Only an inch or two but still...

In PA the trout season starts on April 17th in the Northern Tier. (There's a split starting date that lets some southern counties open on April 3rd. Must read the regs.) Hopefully it won't be snowing then. Last year it wasn't snowing but there was some still on the ground.

I mention this because, although my tackle boxes are here at the Aerie, the poles are in the back room of the Bolt Hole. Neither is very good without the other. I do have one light backpacking pole and small pocket tackle box up north for use on the local streams and a similar set up could be cobbled together from what I have in the Aerie...but there's a lot of gear up there that should be here or visa-versa. (Must remember to bring pieces together!)