Beaver Bed Time

Monday

This week we plan to put the coach to bed for a few months.  We store it inside at Copeland's Storage out in Gainesville.  Hopefully we can get it out around March and head for warmer weather.  So today I want to add a little air to the tires and and see if anything else needs to be done before we take it out there.

Nice and sunny today so it will be nice to be outside.  So I headed outside, a bit cool but the sun was nice.  My goal today was to check all the tire pressures on the coach and the two cars.  I broke out my Sears composer for the coach tires.

The Small compressor

Yes I use the small compressor on the Big Tires.  It easily pumps in 100 psi of air.

The Big 22.5 inch tires

I took off all the pressure monitoring sensors also and packed them away for the winter.  Then I decided to check both cars.

Big compressor small tires

I also checked the oil and cleaned off the top of engine where they tend to spill oil.  It was the middle of the afternoon when I finished so I went in to get some lunch.

Bonnie was busy in the house while I was outside and then after lunch she went out for a while to continue working on the flower gardens and trimming them back.  Supper was in the crock pot.

We watched some TV after supper and relaxed.  Hoping to get to bed a little early tonight as I we have an early day tomorrow.

Tuesday

Today we were up in the dark and soon left for downtown.  Tuesday is our day to volunteer at the City Mission.  We had a good and busy day down there.  We left downtown and picked up Alexus after her drivers ed class at school.  Then to Elizabeth's for supper.  She had some very good Venison Chili and we enjoyed it.  Then we headed home in the dark and the rain.  Then I took out the trash.  Finally time to relax.  Lots to do tomorrow.

Wednesday

Today is the day to put our Beaver Coach to bed for the winter months.  It was overcast but dry.  I felt good when I got up but then started feeling hungery and like I need to throw up all at once.  That passed pretty quick and I felt ok again.  I woke Bonnie up and we got ready and headed to Gainesville.  We had a nice visit with the folks out there and left the coach for them to put inside.

All ready to head out

 Seemed funny to come home and see the empty parking spot.  As you can see it rained while we were on the road so the coach will need a good bath when we get it out in the spring.

Empty till spring

So I ran some of the numbers for this year.  Since April 10th.
The coach was out of storage for 202 days.
We slept in it 67 nights, a lot more than last year.
We drove 4331 miles and towed the CRV for 3911 of those miles
We used 582 gallons of diesel, averaged 7.1 MPG and paid an average of $3.90 per gallon

We saw so many wonderful places this year and enjoyed meeting and talking to many people on our travels.  Now we will wait out winter and plan for next year.

When we got back home I did not feel good again.  I did check my blood pressure and blood sugar but all seemed ok.  So went in and laid down for a while.  When I got up I felt much better but not 100%.

Well thats about it, its still raining and almost dark out, so I will get this posted.

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"The Business of Life is the acquisition of memories!"

Mr. Sun shows his face

Thursday

Nice and bright this morning, yes the sun is out bright and clear.  Nice to see the blue skies today.  Bonnie and I headed out to the coach.  Time to pack up whats in the drawers and clean some.  We take all the clothes and anything we think a mouse would chew up and pack them up into plastic tubs.  It only takes a while but it is much quicker than cleaning up a mess in the spring.  We also ran the Aqua Hot and the generator just to exercise them.  Bonnie finished up by vacuuming the rig and headed back to the the house.

I have been reading a lot on the forums about a big problem with Carefree Eclipse power awnings.  It is limited to a short period of manufacturing.  Seems that the end cap wears and then the awning deploys while you are driving down the road.  I got out the ladders and the tools and worked at taking the awning apart.

Awning Motor uncovered

The black part on the left is what wears out on some awnings.  Mine is an older model and seems to last longer and not have the problem.

Another view of the end cap

Mine is made out of plastic the one that go bad are cast medal.  Mine has an extra part that they call a spyder and seems to last a long time.

This Spyder fits on the end of the shaft and turns the awning tube

So its good to know that mine should be good and last a long time.  I put it all back together.  I only dropped one screw and looked for it a long time, even said a little prayer for help, before I found it.

I put everything away then and headed into the house.  Bonnie made some lunch and we watched a little TV.  Then Bonnie got ready and headed to volunteer at the ROC Rural Outreach Center.  She will help over there for a few hours.

Then we will relax a little.  It was sunny all day but the yard needs to dry out some before I can get the leaves picked up.

Friday

Overcast when I first woke up this morning so I laid down again.  The sun was out nice and bright and Bonnie had left for her sisters when I got up the second time.  We had stayed up until after midnight watching the last of Manhattan season 1 last year.  We actually thought it was ending but there is a Season 2 in 2015.  Its about the first atomic bomb project.  We also finalized plans to visit my sister in PA before Thanksgiving.

So after breakfast I will head out and try to get some of the leaves picket up if its not too muddy where I dump them.  Finally getting some seat time.

The yard was pretty dry, but I did get stuck once and stayed away from a couple other areas.  Here is what parts of the yard looked like when I started.

A lot of the yard was totally covered

The leaves were not totally dry so that makes each load extra heavy.  However the cyclone rake did a good job of picking them up until it ran out of gas.  Back to the garage for some gas, then back to work.

Work in progress

It was a little muddy where I dump the leaves but I managed, I did almost get stuck at another spot in the yard, made a mess but I got out.

The pile is getting rather large

I sucked up a buried rock and cracked the plastic blower housing.  I patched it and think it will be fine.  Its 14 years old and may be a bit brittle.  All was going good until the engine quit on the mower.  Yep now its out of gas, and I had checked it.  Walked back to the garage and got the gas can.

Put some gas in both tanks

Almost done.

Looking much better

This is the section I did first.  I spent 4 hours in the seat today and there are still a lot of leaves on the trees.

Leaves are still coming down

After the 4 hours and two tanks of gas I had picked up and dumped 10 loads of leaves thats 44 bushels.  I unhooked the cyclone rake and then cut the front yard grass, the leaves were not that bad out there.  Finally finished and put the mower and car away in the garage.

Bonnie had called so I called her back and we made plans for supper.  She had to pick up Alexus from school and then drop some stuff off at her parents house.  I got stuff together, grilled some pork, made some beets, and it all was ready just as she walked in the door.

We watched some TV and now its off to bed.

Saturday

Up early at 6am, I am headed in to Hamburg to attend an all day mens conference called Iron Sharpens Iron with a group from our church.

The conference was good and I am home and heading to bed early as I am very tired.

Sunday

Up early this morning for church.  We had breakfast, read email and then started for church.  We picked up Alexus and headed to church.  What a treat we had.  The Ugandan Children's Choir had the whole service.  There are 10 children aged 8-12.  They sang, danced, spoke, and played their drums.  It was a unique look into their world now and where they came from.  They are here performing for 11 months, sharing their message.

Its been damp and overcast all day.  We watched part of the Bills game.  They played good and beat the NY Jets.  We also watched parts of the NASCAR race from Martinsville, which Dale Earnhart Jr.      won.

Looking at the yard a lot more leaves have fallen since Friday, hopefully by the end of this coming week I can finish up the leaves, put the Coach in Storage and winterize the mower.

Another good week in the books.

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"The Business of Life is the acquisition of memories!"

No Seat Time

Monday

Overcast this morning but no rain maybe I will get some seat time on the JD and get some leaves picked up today.  Bonnie headed to her parents again to pack up the stuff that did not sell.  I seem to have some malware on my Mac, I know it came from an attachment that I clicked on.  I think it is cleaned off of my laptop but I think it got backed up to my time capsule.  It will be safe there and eventually get erased.  It just shows up when the backup files are scanned by the antivirus software.

I finally headed out to fix a loose valance in the coach that just required a screw to secure it.  Its been on the list for a while and only took a few minutes to fix, so why did I put it off so long?

Then I decided to fix a Peavey that came from Bonnie's Dad.  It had been modified before so I had to convert it back to a regular peavey.

Ready to convert

I had sprayed the bolt with PB blaster the other day and with the impact wrench I was able to get the bolt off.  Then I resembled it with a new bolt and put a new handle in it that I actually bought several years ago.

Now I just need a spike for the end

Shortly after I finished Bonnie got home.  Today we are being visited by long time friends from Virginia.  We used to work together and its been a long time since we saw them.

We had a great visit here at the house and then headed in to pick up Elizabeth and Alexus and then on to the Iron Kettle for dinner.  The time passed quickly as we tried to catch up on each others lives and its hard to believe so long has passed.  We sadly said goodbye as they are headed back to Virginia in the morning.  Fun times and many happy memories with these two.

Its was raining when we came out and headed home.  We dropped off the girls and made it home safely.  Still catching up on recordings.  Off to bed now as I have and early morning.

Tuesday

No seat time on the JD today, it was rain all day today.  Plus I spent the day downtown at the mission.  Busy all day working on stats and databases.  I forgot to get a picture of Norb and Maggie last night so this morning they sent me a selfie from their car as they headed home to Virginia.

On the road home

Someone was very happy to see Norb

Bonnie spent the day at her parents packing up stuff.  Elizabeth and I picked up Alexus from school and then home to her house for supper.  We also order a DVD study of Genesis to do together on Monday nights, Alexus picked out the study.  I am happy and proud that she is interested in studying what the Bible has to say.

Still raining when we headed home and I took the trash out to the highway for pickup in the morning.  We had a few Amazon deliveries today, a surge protector with ac plugs and USB ports to charge phones, and a big box with a Little Giant step ladder in it.  It has a rail to grab.  As I get some age on me I am not as steady as I once was, so safety first.

Wednesday

I am ready for some sun, its another overcast day.  So far it has not rained but it sure looks damp out ant its only 42 at 11am.  We show 3.23" of rain so far for the month.  We are still waiting on the new iPhones hopefully they will be here by the end of next week.

Bonnie and I have our rescheduled Dr appointments today so we are headed into East Aurora in just a bit.  Dr visits went fine.  Normal stuff lose weight and adjust meds.  We also got our flu shots.  Something new for me, I got the senior flu shot.  Have not researched what that is yet.

Then we headed to Tops so Bonnie could take advantage of the sales and coupons.  I went to Valu Hardware and picked up some driveway reflectors that were on sale to mark the edges of the driveway for winter.  I also had time to make a quick stop at Tim Horton's.  I tried the Chicken Wing Mac and Cheese, it was pretty good.  I also tried the Dark Roast coffee and it was very good.  Next stop was at CVS to pick up a RX for Bonnie and some halloween candy for church.

Finally home we carried groceries and treasures up to the house.

Full load in the Ranger

Well if it ever dries out I will back to picking up the leaves.

Just a few of the leaves in the yard

There are still plenty of leaves on the trees so hopefully they will be on the ground soon.  No sun today and while it did not rain it was terribly damp out.  We grilled some italian sausage outside for supper along with some coleslaw.

Watched the news on the shootings in Canada and they some recordings .  Time now to get this posted.  No Seat time on the green leaf machine so far this week.


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"The Business of Life is the acquisition of memories!"

Snow?

Thursday

Looks like another cloudy day at least so far this morning.  Bonnie left for her parents and I got ready and left for Batavia.

But first a stop in Attica at Ace Hardware.  I picked up 2 gallons of RV Antifreeze for next year, its still on sale for $1.99,  Also a set of LED flood lights for on the garage.  I got to Batavia and Home Depot.  Then picked up a couple plumbing fittings.  I wanted to look at their Little Giant ladders but it turns out they only sell them online.  There are none in the stores.

The sun had come out and the overcast was gone up in Batavia, so I ran the car through the car wash.
Bonnie gave me the shopping list for Tops and I went over there and tried to figure out all her codes on the list.  It took me a while to find everything but in the end I managed to save $58.00 which was a good savings.  Bonnie did the real work I just pickup up what she had on the list.  One more stop at Ace Hardware for 2 more gallons of Antifreeze.  Now I am all set for next year.  It started to sprinkle as I got home, figures since I got the car washed.

I put the groceries away and since it was wet out pretty much took it easy the rest of the day.

A few bags of groceries

I grilled some Brats for supper and Bonnie did not get home till after 7.  She had picked up Alexus who needed to pickup some paint to paint her jeans for Spirit Day at school.  Then Bonnie took her back home.

Apple released their new OS called Yosemite today for the Macs.  So I started that around supper time.  It took a couple hours but it kept cunning away and loaded just fine, so far no problems.  I will give it a couple days and then update my iMac.  Thats about it for today.

Friday

Spoiler Alert - Today was pretty boring again.  Bonnie was up and gone to the Estate Sale at her parents before I got up.  After breakfast I tried out most of the programs on my MacBook and did not have any issues with them running on the new Operating System.  Apple does a pretty good job with their beta testing but something always slips through.

On another good note Gazelle.com received my iPad and checked it out agreed that it was in like new condition, gave me a 5% bonus plus $20 for taking an Amazon Gift Card.  So I now have credit on Amazon.

I grilled Sahlen hot dogs on the grill for supper with some bushes baked beans with a touch of maple syrup.  Then since the Apple upgrade went so well last night I started the upgrade on my iMac.  Hopefully in a couple hours that will be complete.  It rained off and on today and more rain is forecast for tomorrow.

The iMac upgrade was much quicker than the MacBook, must be a better processor.  Well thats it for tonight.

Saturday

Cold, raining, and dark again this morning.  Bonnie is off to her parents again.  Looks like another day of sitting in the house most of the day.

So todays project will be upgrading Bonnie's MacBook Air to Yosemite.  The other two computers are working well so I might as well do this one.  It is the oldest one and the slowest processor.  Its 4 years old but still works as well as the day we bought it.

Upgrade to Yosemite

No problems with the upgrade.  I can remember spending hours and sometimes a couple days upgrading my windows machines.

I also decided to cook the turkey breast, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce for supper.  A nice hot meal for Bonnie when she gets home.

Turned out great

The turkey was good and Bonnie had two helpings.  I saved room for dessert, cookies and milk.
Then we watched a little TV and now off to bed.  Hoping the rain goes away soon and yes there are lots of leaves to pick up again.

Sunday

We live at what they call the higher elevations (1440') here in Western New York.  Last night the forecast was calling for snow mixed with rain at the higher elevations.  I did not see any and don't thing we had any so no snow yet.

It was wet when we got up this morning but no rain.  Bonnie headed to her parents again and I headed for church.  It was the Pastors first week back after a month long vacation.  It was nice to have him back and hear him speak.

After church I went to Elizabeth's to work on some computer issues.  First I installed a newer used router which went well.  Then she changed out a cable.  But her Apple TV is still freezing periodically.  I checked on line a it seems a lot of people are having the same issue.  Lastly we fired up the 10 year old MacBook and after changing an overheated and bulging battery we managed to get it working.  Then we were able to share all her music and get it moved on to her newer computer.

Great news the Buffalo Bills won in the final seconds of the game.  Then I got home to see an exciting end to the NASCAR race.  Bonnie got home shortly afterwards.  The end to another wet but good week.  I imagine I will be picking up lots of leaves as soon as we get a dry day or two.

Thanks For Checking In!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” 
― Albert Einstein

Fall Warmup

Monday

We were up early this morning and headed into East Aurora to the Dr. Office.  It rained harder and harder the closer we got.  Then they rained on our parade once we got there.  Out appointment is for tomorrow.  Now its been in our calendar as today for the last several months so not sure how it got messed up.  Since we go to the mission on Tuesdays we do not usually make Tuesday appointments.  Well they could not fit us in so we headed home.  We have an appointment for next week now.

I called and Brain was going to be able to inspect the coach today so as soon as we got home I started it unhooked the power, checked it over and headed out for the inspection.

Good for another year

No problems with the inspection and I was back home in an hour.  By now the rain had almost stopped but the coach was a mess from the wet roads.  I headed into the house for some lunch.  I finished up the pizza from a week ago.

Then I got dressed and took my iPad down to the Post Office to send to Gazelle.  Well its a holiday and the PO is closed.  Lots and lots of traffic on our road today must be the holiday and the craft show again.  Lucky for me it fit easily into the mailbox so it will go out tomorrow.

Back home I decided to put a Surface Bolt one of the kitchen drawers, in the coach,  that keeps coming open on the road.  Been meaning to do it for a while and now its done.

The drawer will stay shut now

Bonnie came back from her parents and asked me to grill some chicken so it chicken and salad for supper.  The rain did stop and it is 66 out turned out to be a nice day.  Early to bed tonight as we head downtown in the morning.

Tuesday

Up at 6am and getting ready to head into Buffalo City Mission to volunteer today.  Nice and warm out its 61.

Traffic was heavy was all the way downtown today but at least we did keep moving and had no problems.  We had a busy day at the mission and we were both busy all day right up until we left.  It was a beautiful day outside and even hit 81 in the north towns.

Traffic was again heavy all the way out of the city tonight.  We picked up Alexus at school and then headed to Elizabeth's for dinner and some family time.  Then finally home.  I took all the trash out to the road and hope it does not blow away tonight as it is very windy out.  We have watched the weather out West for the past couple days and it is to be here tomorrow.  I even had to throw a couple smaller branches off the driveway.

Thats about it for today.

Wednesday

Still warm but its been raining and it was very windy last night.  Lots of leaves have come down in the last 24 hours and I will be busy again when it dries out some.  However rain is forecast for the next few days.

Bonnie headed over to her parents again the big sale is this weekend and they are almost ready.  I volunteered to do the laundry so Bonnie sorted it before she left.

Read for me to take over

The only time I left the house today was to go out and get the mail.  Not sure how many loads of wash I did but it took all day and I was changing loads about every hour.  The last load finished up around 5:30.

Bonnie got home just before dark.  So now we can watch a little TV and relax.  Looks like more rain is still on the way.

Thanks For Checking In!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” 
― Albert Einstein

Fall is in the air

Thursday

What a beautiful sunny cool day it has been this morning.  I went out to put the new registration sticker on the Odyssey and just as I finished that up Bonnie came out to leave for a luncheon at her parents church.  I had to stay here as the truck is supposed to come and pick up the old HydroHot unit today. Then I got out the step ladder and and windshield cleaner and cleaned the windshield and front of the coach.

Cleaning in progress

While I was cleaning I plugged in the tire pressure monitor and it showed that the one tire was still losing air.  So I have to do something about that.  Finally after many years of meaning to tighten up the ladder ( which we have had 40+ years), I got some screws, the drill and screw gun and fixed it.

Much more stable now.

Next I transferred my extra boiler fluid for the Aqua Hot into properly labeled bottles.  Last morning project was to cut up boxes so that they will fit into the recycle bin.

Before

After

Then I headed into the house for lunch.  Standing on the concrete really hurts my knees, guess I will have to do something about that someday.  Bonnie got home about the time I finished lunch and started peeling apples, that our nephew picked off their tree.  So we will be making apple sauce.

Well finally I got a call and the truck driver coming to pick up the HydroHot is on his way and should be here in 30 minutes.  He was on time and we had a nice chat about RVing he owns a 5th wheel and bought it the same place we did Colton RV .

On its way to the factory

After a quick nap I went back out to put air in the coach tire and changed the gasket in the tire monitor.  Bonnie went to get her haircut and I got ready to leave for open house at Orsby Votech.  We enjoyed that and seeing Alexus participate in FFA and Small Animals.

One of their pet rats

We enjoyed talking and meeting the people that were there.  I had a nice talk with a Navy ET who is on recruiting duty and also some folks that have volunteered at the mission and some that were interested in the mission.

Got a nice photo of my GD she is on her first campout with my Son.

First Campout

Thats about it for today.

Friday

Sunny again this morning and Bonnie headed over to her parents house again.  I had a few things I wanted to get done.  I made an appointment to get the coach inspected on Monday and then headed out to grease the tractor.  I thought that would take about 10 minutes.  Two hours later I got finished.

Problems with the loader

First two of the grease fittings would not take any grease.  I removed them cleaned out the old hard grease and then they worked and took grease.  As I was doing that I noticed two missing pins.

There should be a pin in that whole.

So I replaced the missing pins with 1/4" bolts.  I will keep an eye on them to see if these shear off like the pins did.  I tested it out and pushed the collected leaves further over the bank.  Then I jumped on the mower and picked up a couple loads of leaves.

Last load for today.

 There are still a lot of leaves on the trees so I am no where near done and already have a good pile.

Some of the leaves in the pile.

Before I had started to pick up the leaves I started map updates on both our Garmin GPSs and they were done when I came back in.  I caught up on email and even got a little nap.  Bonnie called and said she was on her way home and asked me to grill some chicken pieces.  They were just about done when she got home.  We have a freeze warning for tomorrow night, so Fall is definitely in the air.

Saturday

It was sunny when I got up this morning but crisp.  But the NWS has issued a freeze warning for tonight so that gave me the push I needed to go ahead and winterize the coach.  Bonnie spent most of her day peeling apples from her sisters tree.

I headed out to do all I could by myself.  I blew out the lines and drained the water tank.  Then I pumped RV antifreeze into the lines which is important for the Aqua Hot to make sure there is no trapped water.  Bonnie came out and helped with that keeping the suction tube in a full bottle of antifreeze.

All the water is drained out

I even remembered to take a picture of the way the refrigerator and ice make plug in, since the ice maker works driving down the road.

Ice Maker on the bottom

Then I took the extension off the tire that loses air to see if thats the problem.  However the TPMS sensor does not work on it so I have to figure that out.  I think the valve stem is too low to be activated.  I may try to file it down if the tire stops losing air.

After the coach was done I headed in to the house to run the pressure canning as Bonnie does not like to mess with it.

We did 13 pints of apple sauce and then cleaned up and watched a little TV.

Canning in progress

Earlier while we were working on the coach the post office brought me a box from Gazelle to turn in my iPad, they made me an offer I could not refuse.

www.gazelle.com sell your old gadgets

So we have had a productive day and now we get to relax.

Sunday

Sunny when I got up but the grass and roofs were covered with frost.  First frost I have seen this year.  Looks like it got down in the low 30s here at the house.  Then we got ready and headed to church with a quick stop to pick up Alexus as her mom was not feeling well.  Church was good as always and Bonnie made spaghetti squash with a tomato sauce for lunch.

Today is the first Buffalo Bills game under the new ownership of the Pegulla's.  They play the New England Patriots which will be a tough game.  Well the Bills lost.  I had TV on but napped off and on all afternoon.  We did get a lot done this week.  The applesauce is put away and Bonnie made a big pot of chili.  Not much else to report on today.

Thanks For Checking In!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” 
― Albert Einstein

Rainy Days

Monday

Bonnie had breakfast and headed over to her folks house to continue cleaning and sorting through their stuff.  The rain had ended and I headed out to cut the rest of the grass.  The yard was not too wet and so I hooked up to the cyclone rake again and picked up a couple more loads of leaves.  So far 660 bushels.

 I went in to eat some lunch and the rain started again.  So that was the end of the outside work.  Didn't do much the rest of the day and Bonnie did not get home till after 8pm.  So we watched a little TV before Bed.

Tuesday

I got a call yesterday asking if we could volunteer at the City Mission today.  Bonnie is helping at her parents again today but I was up at 6am and rode into the city with Elizabeth.  There were lots of statistics to catch up on and I cleaned up some of the spreadsheets.  Then we had to pick up Alexus from school and it was almost 7 when I got home.

Bonnie had beaten me home and collected all the trash, so I carried it out to the highway and then finally got to settle down.  Bonnie fixed some supper and then we watched a little TV again.

Not much exciting happening here at home.  Tomorrow we have lab work.

Wednesday

We had an 8:45 appointment at the lab this morning for blood work for our routine Dr appointments next week.  We had a bit of a snag in that we could not find Bonnie's paperwork.  We had time and made a quick stop at the Dr. office and picked up a copy of the paperwork and still made it to the lab on time.  So it all worked out.  They were not real busy but they were not moving very fast either.

Then we headed over to Tops so Bonnie could do a wire transfer through Western Union and a little shopping.  I went over to Value to pick up some RV antifreeze for the water system.  It was $4 a gallon so I called a friend that works at ACE and found out that it was sale for $2 a gallon.  So I decided to go to ACE later.  I went over to get coffee at Tim Hortons but the line was too long and I went pack to TOPs to pick up Bonnie.  Its been raining all morning.

Looks like a wet day

Once home we had a bit of breakfast and then I headed for Attica and Bonnie was going to her parents again.

I picked up 4 gals of RV Antifreeze and then had lunch with a friend and we caught up on what we have been doing.  So I had a good visit and its been a good day.  Back in Varysburg I dropped off the post office tub our mail had been in and then got gas for the mower and filled up the car.  Back home I vacuumed out the car.  I even had to vacuum the top intake manifold on the top of the engine.  Looks like a squirrel had a meal or two sitting up in there.  I figure it happened at a campground.

Cleaned out the New England dirt that we brought home

I changed out some light bulbs in the kitchen and cleaned some in my bathroom.  Then jumped in the rain locker.  Now to relax and watch a bit of TV or catch up on some podcasts.

Thanks For Checking In!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” 
― Albert Einstein

Home Base---- Leaves, leaves, leaves

Thursday

First morning back here at our home base.  So far all seems well.  The coffee pot works so we are off to a good start.

I had big plans for today and I guess I got a lot done but it did not seem like it.  I had hoped to start on the leaves but that just never even came close to happening.  Maybe tomorrow.  This girls are coming out for a visit tonight so we are looking forward to that.  Bonnie did lots of wash and I worked on the financial stuff on the computer.  Renewed some things and paid some bills.  I also looked up some of the numbers from the trip.  We drove the coach 1762 miles, stayed at 7 different campgrounds and 1 week at a timeshare condo.  In addition to that we drove the CRV 1141 miles

The CRV was also towed 1723 miles behind the coach.  We bought 258 gallons of diesel and around 44 gallons of gas.

My GD in Alabama was on a field trip to a farm today and her mom send over this picture.

Starting early on a John Deere

Ordered pizza and wings and looking forward to that, its been over a month.

The pizza and wing were great, thats about it for today.

Friday

Beautiful day again this morning, the forecast says the day will not end this nice.

I went out around 10am and put the Cyclone Rake together to start picking up leaves.

Pieces and Parts

Got the engine mounted

Took about 30 minutes to get the rake together and fuel up the engine.  It started on the first pull.  I hitched up to the mower and started picking up leaves.  I noticed a while later that Elizabeth had come to pick up Bonnie for the retreat.  A couple loads later and Bonnie came out to ask me to come in and look at the printer.

Once I got in the house Elizabeth had the printer working and so I had some leftover pizza for lunch and a big drink.  Then back out to pick up leaves.  The girls left for their retreat and I kept picking up and dumping leaves.  I suddenly remembered I had to leave to take Alexus to the Dr. a little after 3pm it was not 2:57.  So I dumped the last of the 13 loads which is 574 bushels in the 4 hours I worked today.  The yard looks like a drunk cut it as I was trying to pick up where the leaves were concentrated even though all the grass needs cut.

I quickly washed up and changed and headed to pick up Alexus.  I made it to her house right on time, waited for to finish getting ready and then left for the DR.  We got there a little early so it all worked out.  Her annual check up went fine and she even got a flu shot.  Then after a quick stop at Tim Hortons I dropped her off at a friends to dog sit.  Its been raining a while so the weatherman was right.

Back home I lit the grill and heated up so wings and a couple pieces of pizza for supper.  I am tired out and still have lots of grass to cut and the wind has brought down a lot more leaves.

Time to relax catch up on some recordings and maybe nap a little.

Saturday

Woke up to rain this morning.  After a quick breakfast I took the  Odyssey up to Becker's garage to get it inspected.  I was expecting a line but got right in.  No problems and we got our new inspection sticker.  I stopped in to visit at the town building and visited with the Town Clerk, no one was there at the court.  Then back home.  It looked like the sun was going to come out.  Good maybe I can get some grass cut.  Just as I was about to go out the rain came again.  Rain off and on was the pattern for the day.

Bonnie got home after 7 and we watched a little TV and then off to bed.

Sunday

I heard the rain when I woke up this morning and it continued to rain all morning.  We had our coffee and breakfast and then headed for church.  It was nice to be back and see everyone.  Our Pastor has been on vacation a couple weeks and the speaker today did a really good job.

The rain had stopped when we left for home, one quick stop at the pharmacy and we are home for the afternoon.  Still dark and dreary, rain in the area but not here at the house.

Well the Bills won in the final 4 seconds of the game with a 58 yd field goal, wow.  Lots of surprises in the NASCAR race and it looks like some nice warm soup for supper.  Hopefully the weather will improve some this week and we can get some work done around the homestead.

This week is quite a change from last week, but we will adapt.

Thanks For Checking In!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” 
― Albert Einstein

Homeward Bound

Monday

We were up and on the road by 10am this morning.  It was very overcast, which is nice on a travel day as the coach stays much cooler without the sun beating down on it.

It was overcast most of the morning

I drove for about an hour and then Bonnie took over and drove for the next 3 hours.  The blue sky did start to show through at least for a while.

Colors were pretty nice here in the Massachusetts Berkshires

We finally crossed into New York and shortly after that we crossed the Hudson River.

Back in our home state

Bridge across the Hudson

Hudson River

Construction zone

We have been fortunate on our trip, the construction zones have not caused us any delays.

We pulled into the Villages at Turning Stone a little after 4:00pm.  Checkin was quick and easy.  They made us cards to use at the resort and casino for food and gave us 5 or 10 dollars of play money on the card.

Our site #437

We got set up and leveled quickly and then relaxed for a while.  We decided to go check out the restaurants at the hotel/casino.  Before we left I went out and said hello to our neighbor as he grilled supper.  I noticed he was from Arkansas and turns out he was a neighbor to one of the agents I worked with in Fayetteville.  Its a small world.  We called for the shuttle and it picked us up a few minutes later.

We ate in the the Upstate Tavern.  I had meatloaf and it was good, Bonnie did not like her Chicken Pot Pie but said it was just ok.  Then we played the machines till our free money was gone.  Then back on the shuttle and home to the coach.  The constant noise in the casino is too much for me.  Not sure we will go back over there.

We are only a few hours from home so this stop is to relax a bit and then clean the tanks out good as this will probably be our last trip this year.  Once we get home we will get the coach ready to winterize and put it to bed for the winter.


Tuesday

Quiet cool night so we both slept well.  We did both hear a train whistle several times but it was off in the distance.  Nothing planned for today we have not even unhooked the car.  Just relaxing and planning to grill for supper.  Had a wrap for lunch with some of the potato chips we got in Canada.

They were really good nice and salty

We are enjoying just sitting and relaxing, listening to the wind rustle the leaves and watching them slow drift to the ground.  I even managed to get a nice nap on the couch this afternoon.  We have had a nice breeze all day and have not needed the air conditioner.

I broke out the grill and Bonnie whipped up some Mac and Cheese.  The O Grill did a good job and I am really starting to like it.

Sausage on the Grill

Well thats about it for today.  I have a webinar to tune into for RVillage tonight and hopefully the network here will support it.

Wednesday

I was up at a little after 8 and got Bonnie up at 9.  We had breakfast and worked at packing up to get on the road.  I cleaned and drained the tanks extra good today as this is probably our last trip before winter.  We have a black tank flusher and it has a leak somewhere so I added that to the list, but it may wait until spring.

We fueled up before we hit the Thruway and paid $4.01 first diesel over $4.00 on the whole trip, Welcome Home to New York.  Our drive went well.

Cloudy trip, look at the bugs on the windshield

We stopped at Merle's to get some corn but it appears the corn season is over there.  Then we stopped at the church in Varysburg to unhook the car. Bonnie went and picked up the mail and I backed the coach into its spot.  Then we unloaded most of the clothes and food.  We will finish later this week.

2nd and last load for today

We did a quick look at the mail and then tried to relax a little.

I almost forgot it was Wednesday and I need to get this posted.

Thanks For Checking In!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” 
― Albert Einstein