Inverter Is In

I finished the inverter installation today.  I bought some 6 ga. welder cable which was perfect for the job.  It's very flexible and easy to route.  I mounted the inverter to the outside wall under the new counter as close to the stairwell as possible.  The battery compartment is under the steps, so I was able to keep the cables fairly short.

I routed the cables through the sidewall of the counter up next to the outside wall and down along side the door frame.  Then I ran them under the last step to the battery compartment.  The last step is a thick piece of plywood, so I cut away some of the underside to make a channel for the cables.  The only place the cable is visible (besides under the counter) is the short run along the door frame, about 12".

I still have to get a power strip with a long cord.  I want to drill a hole in the counter side wall on the opposite end toward the front and mount it on the wall just behind the passenger seat.  That's where the Internet modem mounts and is also near the TV cabinet.

TV On The Run

Not really.  Who needs to watch TV when the world is passing by outside?  But, I received my 1100 watt inverter today.  I need to get some heavy gauge wire to install it, but it should serve us well.  I plan to power our Verizon MiFi and laptop computer with it so we can jump on the Internet while on the road without firing up the generator.  With frugal use, we can brew a pot of coffee or watch TV for a while, too.

Speaking of TV, I ordered a new LNBF (knobby looking thing that goes on the satellite dish) and a satellite signal meter & compass.  Pumpkin has an old satellite dish built in and we can use our Dish receiver out of the kitchen.  Resurrecting the old dish is not too expensive, but it will require some tweaking to set up.  At least we should be able to get CNN and maybe even KY3 while on the road.

Leaky Plumbing

While at Babler, Joyce notice some dampness on the floor in the bedroom.  It was an old spot - meaning I had repaired a leak in that area before.  I opened up the panel that exposed the plumbing behind the water control vavles and sure enough, the floor was wet there.  But, I was unable to find a leak.  I connected up the city water line and applied city water pressure (if you want to call Moore Bend Water Co. city water).  After the higher pressure was applied for a while, a little seep leak began at one of the joints I had worked on before.  I tightened the clamp and added a second clamp for insurance.  That seemed to do the trick, however, I need a good water regulator to keep the pressure down.  I have two of the el cheapo regulators available at Walmart and they have both failed.  So, I need to get a better regulator.  In the meantime, the plumbing doesn't leak with the internal pump pressure.  So, I'll just fill up the tank when needed and switch off the city water.  No need for that excess pressure anyway.

Update: 2 days later with the pump left on and still no leak.  I'm going with it as is.

Home Again

We packed up and left Babler State Park about 1 pm.  It was a long but pleasant drive home - except for that damned Travel Plaza where we stopped for gas.  Those places aren't set up for an RV towing a Jeep.  As I left, I wound up pushing over one of their signs just to get cranked around and out of there.  You can't back up with a car in tow.  You would think a place that calls themselves "Travel Plaza" would have fueling spots for RVs.

We got home about 5:30 pm.  It was a nice trip.  And, Oxford was here waiting and all the chickens are accounted for (I think).

Funny thing...as we turned the corner to start down Cox Rd, Pumpkin quit again.  Just like before in almost the precise location.  Weird!  It started right back up with no problem.  We may have a "haint" hanging around that corner.  Where's the Ghost Busters when you need them?

It's A Miracle

Dusty and the boys pitched a tent and slept outside Saturday night.  Traci (knowing her husband's curse) and Laurna slept in Pumpkin.  It did not rain.  It was a miracle or something really bad is coming.

The St. Louis bunch went home after breakfast.  They invited us to a fish fry and had to get home to make the preparations (yes!).

Joyce and I made it to their house about 5 pm and Dusty had the fish in the deep fryer.  He had already made grilled asparagus and Brussels sprouts and roasted corn-on-the-cob.  Traci was making au gratin potatoes, slicing up cucumbers and had just taken a pound cake out of the oven.  She sliced fresh strawberries to go with the cake.

The fish came from the Gulf of Mexico.  The gang had gone to Destin a few weeks ago and caught a bunch of Vermilion snapper.  At least they were told they weren't Red snapper because Red snapper were not in season.  A lot went into catching these fish...and a lot came out while catching these fish.  Traci and Laurna contributed the most - the "out" part while Dusty and the boys fished.  The result is possibly the best fish I've ever eaten.

Dinner was fit for a king.  Sooo delicious.  They had outdone a lot of super good seafood restaurants and it was a whole lots less expensive - for Joyce and I, anyway.  Dusty said it worked out to somewhere around $50 a pound.

After dinner we sat down to a game of new Trivial Pursuit (Bet You Know It) where you get to bet on whether the person answering the question would get it right or not.  We let Traci win (wink, wink).

After a wonderful evening, it was time to pay the piper.  Traci made me haul off bags and bags of old clothes and toys she was giving to our local fire dept.  We filled the Jeep up, leaving just enough room for a couple of over stuffed adults and a little dog.  We slept well.

Well, We're here and it's thundering

Should have known. We're camped near Dusty and it's raining. No, Dusty is not camping, but he's close enough to have his usual effect. The trip up yesterday was long, but uneventful. However, I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. I wanted to gas up at the Casey's Store in Forsyth. I knew it would be easy to get in and out. But, when I got there, someone had left their car blocking the pumps. We sat there for quite a while. I even asked an attendant who was dumping trash if she would see if the person could move their car. The attendant disappeared inside and that was that. I don't know if the person was in taking a crap or chewing the fat or was locked in the trunk. The car was sitting too far out from the pump to have been there for gas. I finally gave up and drove off. I wasn't in that big a need for gas.

We stopped at Strafford for gas and on up the road a ways to a rest stop just beyond Marshfield, we stopped for lunch. What a nice rest stop. The DOT has been working on it for what seems like years. But, it's finished now. Actually, it's a Welcome Center. It has a huge parking area for trucks and a special convenient area for RVs. The picnic tables are all under neat little cabanas built like old-time gas station and motor court fronts. A wide sidewalk leads down between all of them and has a yellow center line painted like a highway and U.S. Highway 66 road signs along the walk.

The rest of the trip went by like the countryside we passed. I drove about 55 mph because we were bucking a headwind and were not in a hurry anyway. So, it was a nice trip.

We went to Dusty's for dinner and to catch up a bit. Then came back to the park for bedtime. Having Coors along makes this kind of camp much more enjoyable and convenient.

I'm sitting here now with Joyce, Ditto and Laurna still in bed. Yes, Laurna came to camp the night with us. Everyone else has a part in a neighborhood triathlon this morning (in the rain). Poor Laurna didn't have a part to play so she came home with us last night. She's all sprawled out on the cab-over bunk still sawing them off. I love that little girl.

Going To Babler

We're just about all packed and ready to go on a short trip up St. Louis way.  After having the transmission worked on, I wanted to get a few miles under its belt before we started out for Custer State Park in South Dakota next month.  So, we're going to spend the weekend at Babler State Park just outside Chesterfield.  We're towing Coors so we will run back and forth to Dusty's.  Dusty has a fish fry planned - ummmm!