Road Test-----Passed!

Monday

Snow covered the deck and garage roof this morning.  It was 35 so at least it was melting.  Bonnie had a Dr appointment so she was out the door first.  I took a quick shower and then headed out to the Coach.  I started it and then checked all the tires and adjusted the tire pressures.  Once I knew everything was working I headed into the house.  Bob R pulled in the driveway about 12:15 and we headed out to the coach.

Today was my road test in the coach to get a "R" endorsement on my license.  In NY if your Motorhome weighs over 26,000 pounds you are required to get an endorsement.  I was surprised how nervous I was knowing I would be tested.  We headed into Orchard park and arrived about 35 minutes early as instructed.  We pulled in behind the cars in line and we drew a lot of attention.  It was not quite 2pm when we made it to the front of the line.

Bigest vehicle in line.

Front of the line

The test starts here

 The female examiner was very friendly and we chatted about RVing as she gave me instructions.  Pull out when it is safe and make a right turn at the corner.  Then straight ahead for a couple blocks and make another right turn.  Pull over stop a couple feet from the curb.  She got out and had me backup for about 50 feet (so happy I did not have to parallel park) with the 4 way flashers on.  Then 3 left turns and back to the start of the test.  She said You Passed!  Then she finished the paperwork and handed me my temporary License endorsement, told me to wait 7 days and then go to the DMV to get my permanent license.  So happy that is over with.

I think she enjoyed this road test

On the way home Bob and I determined that the exhaust brake is not working.  I am hoping it just needs lubed so I will order some today.  Bob was impressed that I backed the Coach all the way into the driveway on the first try.  Then we headed in to the house to visit with Bonnie and she made us peanut butter sandwiches and I made some coffee for Bob.

Coffee and peanut butter and jelly afternoon snack

We had a nice visit and he headed home.  It was so nice of him to go with me, someday I hope to return the favor for another driver.  Now Bonnie can get her permit and drive with me.

We had a few snow flakes today and then some sunshine, forecast is for another cold night.

Tuesday

So it was in the 30's at 7am when I got up.  So decided to use the rest room and then climb back in bed for a few minutes.  Next thing I knew it was 9:45, wow.  Got up and dressed.  Bonnie was still sleeping so I kept it quiet.  The phone rang for her at 11 that woke her and thus the day is passing quickly.

The little door on the Microwave is not opening so I called Orville's about that.  Its under warranty so they will be out next week to look at it since it is mounted over the stove.  Glad we extended the warranty.  It was sunny so I thought of cutting some grass but now its cloudy again.  Guess I will take the trash out to the road and decide if its dry enough to cut.

I was able to cut about half the grass, but before I did that I spent some time working on the Coach.
Since the night I drove it home I have questioned if the exhaust brake was working.  Yesterday when Bob and were both in the Coach on the hills we both determined that it was not kicking in just the transmission was down shifting.  So today I opened up the hatches to look for the exhaust brake.

Bed propped up and access hatch opened

I can see the top of the engine and the exhaust brake

The silver cylinder is what closes the brake.

It appears that the brake butterfly is corroded and does not move, so it never closes.  I soaked it with PB Blaster and will let it sit overnight until I have time to check it again.  I tried to move the lever but it would not budge.  Hopefully the PB Blaster will loosen it.  I ordered the proper lube last night and it should be here on Friday.  There is no good place to pry on the lever to get it to move.  This could be my first extended warranty claim if it does not free up.

I had just enough time to shower and then we headed to church for our small group study.  Finally home and time to get to bed.

Wednesday

Wow where did the day go.  Its after 11pm and I am just getting to posting this.  I got up and did my email and blog reading.  Bonnie was gone to her bible study.  I got dressed and ran down to get gas for the lawn tractor.  Then I took my acetylene torches apart and packed the bottles into the car to return to Batavia.  I had a ten year lease on them and now they want almost $300 for 5 years and I just do not use them that much.

All packed up guess I should sell these.

Then I jumped on the John Deere and cut the front yard.  It was almost 1pm by now.  I ran into the house and signed on to an online training course that was live from the West coast for court on Distracted Driving.  That lasted until 2pm.  Then Bonnie and I headed for Batavia.  I dropped her off at JoAnn Fabrics and I headed to Jackson Welding to turn in the gas bottles.  Then I was off to Tops to fill up the car, we had 90 cents a gallon off on gas, saved over 15 dollars.  Then Bonnie was ready and I picked her up and we headed to East Aurora.  A brief stop to pick up the girls and then on the EAWireless.  They were very helpful as 3 of us were getting different phones.  Lots of paperwork and a few phone calls and we had two new phones, one switched phone, one sold phone and one old phone no one wanted.  

We picked up pizza and wings and headed to Elizabeth's to customize the new phones.  I restored mine with the backup I had done and Elizabeth had all her contacts on her phone by the time we got home courtesy of iCloud.  Bonnie watched a little TV while we customized.  We finally headed home and everyone seemed happy.

Now its time to post this and get to bed.  Thanks for Checking In!

Happy Mothers Day

Thursday

Raining hard when I got up this morning and has continued off and on all day.  That pretty much changed our plans for the day.  So we have been just taking it easy and watching TV and doing a little online research.

I left late afternoon to take care of some work at court.  Then I headed toward Orchard Park, I drove the route I am taking on Monday to the Orchard Park DMV test site.  I will be taking a driving test in the MotorHome on Monday afternoon and wanted to check out the route since it is through residential streets to get to the test site.  All looked well.  Then back home through East Aurora and I stopped for something to eat at the Chinese Buffet.  I did a little shopping and then headed for Worship Team Practice at Church.

The group was learning several new songs so it was a long night for us all.   Got home a little before 10pm.  Now time to relax a little before reading and bed.


Friday

Bonnie was on the go again early.  This time a trip to Warsaw to see the Chiropractor and do some shopping.  It rained all morning and finally cleared a little around noon.  I went out and put the new water filter for the ice maker in the coach.

It went in easy no problems

It only took a few minutes to change the filter but the it was already starting to rain again.  Bonnie pulled in and I helped her get the groceries into the house.  I finished stowing a few things in the coach and then headed back into the house.  Not much else happened today as it rained off and on all day and we had Severe Thunderstorm Warnings most of the afternoon.  No bad storms yet but some hard downpours.

Saturday

I was up and out the door shortly after 7am this morning, way to early for me.  I went to bed early last night but did not sleep well.  The sausage we had for supper did not sit well with me.  So I headed for church to help with the Mothers Day breakfast.  There was lots of help so most things were already set up and taken care of.

Tables all ready to go

The cooks are ready.

There were 8 burners set up and 8 cooks to make omelets as ordered or eggs to order.  There were 8 woman at each table and 8 waiters per team.  The ladies filled out an order form that served as the menu also.  Then the eggs were cooked and the side dishes added and served.

This was the toast master he made all the toast and then cooked also

As soon as the ladies were all served we got to eat and then I headed to court.  Not much paperwork to take care of there and I was soon on my way home.

I napped most of the afternoon as I am just not feeling very good.

Feel a little better this evening headed in for a good nights rest.

Sunday

Bright and sunny when we got up this morning.  Happy Mothers Day!

The Mother of Our Children

However it is a bit cool out.  We headed for church and drove through a little rain on the way.

Bonnie wanted to go to Holland to the farmers market to see her sister after church.  But near the end of church we got a voice mail that the market closed and they were home.  Seems they had rain, hail, and snow so they called it quits for the day.

So Bonnie and Alexus went to the house and I rode with Elizabeth to Wal-Mart to get propane and a water filter.  Then to her house to spend the day.  She is cooking and going to try to help Bonnie learn Power Point.  Seems like we ate all day and then had steak for supper.

It was all very good

Started to rain and it got very windy during supper.  Then alternated between sun and rain for a few hours.  The girls are still working on the power point presentation and it seems to be going quite well.
Well I am going to post this and take the rest of the evening off and enjoy the family.

Thanks for Checking In.

Family Ties

Monday

We were in no hurry to get up this morning so slept in a little.  But we were checked out of the Red Roof Inn and having a bite to eat over at Kings Family Restaurant by 10:30.  Then we headed over to Jeanette, PA to see if we could find the grave of the first Jae to come to the USA.  We found the cemetery without a problem.

But now what.  I had a phone number and reached the cemetery that keeps all the records for the county.  Mike was very helpful and called me back in a few minutes.  He had me stand by a large monument near the entrance and within two minutes on the phone I was standing at the grave.

The Jae Plot

A family marker.

Mike told me this marker replaced older markers a few years ago  John Jae on the second line was the first to come here from Europe.  We know he lived in Germany at one time.

We had an uneventful trip coming home and filled the car with gas for $3.29 a gallon in Erie.  We stopped for supper at Elizabeths and got home to the house at 7:30.  It was nice to see the trees starting to bloom along the way home.  Bonnie's flowers are in bloom also.

A nice greeting when we got home

Well I am off to make friends with my own bed and pillows for a few hours.

Tuesday

While we were still out of town yesterday I got a call for some court work.  So this morning I was on a schedule and headed up there before 10 this morning.  Then worked at court till about 1:30.  Once home I jumped on the tractor to turn over some more mulch for Bonnie, she was busy spreading mulch all morning.  Then I put the york rake on the tractor and raked out some of the dirt along the side of the driveway where we put in the drainage last year.  Bonnie fixed some fruit smoothies for lunch and I went in to take a break for lunch.  Then back outside.  I raked the dirt a little and then put the roller on the lawn tractor.  I rolled where I had raked and then put the roller away.  Then I cut the front and back yard around the house, some areas are still a little wet.  Time for a little rest before we head to our small group study.

We had a good class, Bonnie made a lemon cake for a snack and it was a big hit.  Alexus had an away track meet and called to be picked up just as we finished so we went and picked her up.  She placed second in the hurdles today and the girls won there meet.

Ashley our DIL called when we got home to let us know she was accepted in to a Nurse Practitioner program, great news all  around today.  Well time for some shut eye.

Wednesday

Bonnie was up first this morning and made coffee.  She was gone to bible study when I got up.  I worked some more on our genealogy and also caught up on blogs and emails.  Bonnie got home around noon and made lunch.  After lunch we planned to head to the woods.  Bonnie returned a call to her mother and I spoke with a friend in Batavia that has come down with shingles.  He said he was over the worst of it and was feeling well.

Then I headed down to put the log winch on the tractor and Bonnie got dressed to head to the woods.  We took the tractor and the Ranger.  There were two or three logs I wanted to get out of the creek before they plugged up the culvert.  Of course it started to rain as we headed into the woods, but we kept going.  All went well and we got the job done.

Bonnie worked the winch and I hooked the logs

This was a whole tree that was in the creek.

No problem for the winch

Once that was done I tried to move a couple other trees but I need to cut them up first.  Maybe they will become firewood for Elizabeth

The rain had let up a little but more was on the way, I was soaked.  Bonnie trimmed a little and I dumped the trimmings before we headed in.

I jumped in a nice hot shower to warm up and to wash my arms to make sure I washed away any poison ivy oil.  Then we pretty much watched TV and worked on the family tree.  My son called and we are merging our work so we can work on it together.

Well thats about it for tonight, I will get this posted, not sure where the week has gone.

Thanks For Checking In.

Headed South

Thursday

Bonnie and I both slept in later than usual today.  I was still reading email when she said she was leaving in 9 minutes.  I thought I had another hour.  I needed to help her load a table and chairs into the Odyssey.  She was taking them to sell at Arcade Junction and needed to meet her sister there.  I decided to stay out and finish flushing the water on the coach.  I put about 50 gallons of water in the tank and then flushed out the lines to each sink and shower.  Made a note to order a new filter for the ice maker.  Rolled up the hoses and stowed them.  It was nice out not too hot so I decided to install the filter for the drinking water.  I was not real happy with the location of the hole but had to use it because of the way the under-counter sink is mounted.

All ready to supply our drinking water for this year.

I missed lunch and so stayed out in the Coach and hooked up a 12 volt multi-outlet to use to power the GPS, Tire Monitor, and charge our phones.  I even used the built in vacuum cleaner to clean up the mess I made drilling a couple holes.  I cleaned up and called it a day.

Then I packed up some stuff for my son and made it to the Post Office before 4 to mail it.  They have strange new hours down there to "save money".  Then since we are going to be gone for the weekend I ran up to Court to clean up some paperwork.  Bonnie was home when I got home so I loaded up My Grandfathers mounted deer head to take to my cousins tomorrow.  He shot it in 1943 and I am passing it on to another family member to keep and cherish.

We watched a little tv and headed to bed early after packing suitcases for tomorrows trip, you guessed it we are not taking the Coach, I could not find an open decent campground near where we are headed.

Friday

We were up bright and early this morning and headed South by 8:30am.  Our first mission was to delivery the deer head.  We made good time with one stop to change drivers and one stop for gas at $3.39 a savings of $.40 a gallon by crossing one state line.  With the aid of the GPS and previous directions we found my cousin Shirley's house just before noon.  Her and Alec her husband have a beautiful house in a nice quiet setting.  Donna her sister was already there and Alec and I drove out and led Helen in to the house.  We had a great time visiting and catching up, sadly we do not see each other very often these days.  Shirley made a wonderful lunch and the others brought dessert.  I know I ate way to much but it was so good and the company was even better.

Me, Shirley, and Alec

It was after 4 when we got back on the road for our hotel in Monroeville.  I kept in touch with Silvia by text to see if they needed help at the church.  She said they were all set with plenty of hands.  So after checking in and a brief rest we headed to her house to join in the fun.  About half wee there as was my Aunt Katharine the main reason for our trip.

My Aunt, second cousin Stephen, his mom my cousin Bobbie, and Bonnie

Getting a little cool out on the porch

Tomorrow we are celebrating her 90th birthday.  My cousins have arraigned a dinner and get together.  We were able to have a great one on one time with her while the others were gone.  Then when the others got done at church they joined us and we sat out on Bob and Silvia's beautiful back porch and visited till well past 11pm.  Warren went to the airport to pick up the last of his daughters to arrive and we headed to our bed at the Red Room Inn.

Saturday

We slept in this morning and took it easy.  The party starts at 1pm.  Bonnie got up and got ready and we headed over to Kings Family restaurant for breakfast.  It was good and they were just finishing cleaning the room as we got back.  Time to shower and get ready to go and see if we can help a little.

We found the church and arrived at the perfect time just as the guest of honor pulled in.

We found the church

The guest of honor arrives

Happy as can be

Family prepares the food in the kitchen

With her cousin Ruth Jae Bader and Ruth's daughter

A tribute is given by Silvia

Mother and Daughters

Wishes made and Candles extinguished

The cake is cut

It was a great birthday celebration

Everyone pitched in to clean up and in no time at all we were done.  Lots of folks headed over to Bob and Silvia's to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.  A campfire blazed and lots of smores and campfire pizza's were made.  We had a great time talking to family that we seldom get to see and we really enjoyed having the time to talk to them and get to know them.  The kids all played well together and it was what many would call a perfect family day.

We said good by to the ones leaving early in the morning and good night to ones we hope to see tomorrow.  We were back in the motel by 9 and ready for a good nights sleep.  We all shared the pictures we took today so some of these pictures are not mine but are shared by other family.

Sunday

Well we slept in again today and we had another late breakfast at Kings Family diner.

A good cup of coffee brings a big smile

Then we headed over to Crossroads Cemetery to visit my Mom and Dads grave.  It was nice to see there Headstone sitting nice a straight again after the cemetery fixed it last year.  We also walked around and visited the other family graves that I knew about.  Then we headed over to Bob and Silvia's  again.  Most of the family was already on their way home but Aunt Katharine was on her way to visit for the afternoon.  We had a nice lunch and visited for a while.  Then Bob and I got to talking genealogy since my son is interested in it.  The next thing I knew I had downloaded Family Tree Maker and I had started a new hobby.  So Bob shared his info via a file download a few pointers and I am now on my own.  This could be a lot of fun so I am looking forward to it.  We looked at some pictures and also face timed with my son to talk about what he had already learned.

Then we all took my Aunt back to her place.  She recently moved into an assisted care facility and I was interested in seeing it.  Also she is moving into a bigger room and wanted Bob to help figure out where all her furniture would be placed.

No doubt this is the room

Lovely quilt

I always liked this picture of my Uncle Roy when I was a kid

The facility is very nice and everyone seems very friendly.  We got a tour of the whole place.  She seems to like it there and has made a lot of friends.  After that we said our good byes to everyone and headed to the hotel.  It has been a great weekend but I think everyone is pretty tired.  We caught the end of the race and the big wreck.  Now time to study this family tree a little, read a little and then get a good nights sleep.

Its been a great week Thanks for Checking In!

May Day

Monday

Not much rain overnight.  Woke up a little before 8 rolled over and next thing I heard the clock in the living room strike 9.  I got up and Bonnie was just getting up also.  Made coffee and my oatmeal.  Still pretty overcast out, thinking it may rain.  Bonnie went down to scrapbook and I read email and blogs.  Finally got ready to go outside and Bonnie was ready to make lunch.  While she did that I ran out and got the snow blower off the deck.

Putting it away for the summer

Then I ran out to get the mail and snapped a picture of Bonnie's stonework and removed one of the steel posts.

Looking good.

Bonnie has been making smoothie's for lunch so I drank that and then headed out to pick up a few branches.  Still trying to let my knee heal so am trying to take it easy.  I worked out in the yard for a little over an hour.  I did check the Coach and the water is staying in the toilet so that is a good thing.  The Lime Away must be doing its job.  It didn't take to long to pick up a load of limbs and branches that fell over the winter.

Enough for today

Ready to dump in my brush pile

All dumped, glad the ranger has a dump.

I headed in to cool down, shower and get ready to head to court.  So far the knee feels pretty good.  Ten minute power nap now headed up to the Town Hall.

Busy night at court, finally home.  Time to relax, read and sleep.


Tuesday

Short post today.  Got up ate and out the door.  Went to the bank and post office then up to court till early afternoon.  Got home and made a little lunch.  Had a meeting to go to in Attica.  Once she got home I changed clothes and went out to take out the trash and then planned to sanitize the water tank in the Coach.  But the phone rang.  It was Alexus, her track meet was today instead of tomorrow.  Back in the house to change clothes and head to school.  We got there in time to see her run the 100, she did pretty good and was in first when she went past me.

We left there and stopped at subway for supper. Then to church for the small group study.  We are finally home and I am ready for bed.  More tomorrow.

Wednesday

Up this morning, fixed breakfast and had a few minutes before she headed to Woman's Bible Study, then she has a lunch date with her Mom, and then a Dr. appointment in Warsaw.  So I am on my own for most of the day.  Going to try to sanitize the water tank on the coach again.

Started up the coach and it took a while to get all the warning lights to go out but finally we were good to go.  I moved it up closer to the garage being careful not to hit the garage, been there done that, still got closer than I wanted to.  I got out the white water hoses and hooked them up and started to fill the tank.

All hooked up to flush out the pick stuff

 Flushed out the lines inside the coach and fired up the hydro hot for some hot water.  No leaks noted.
I climbed in the bottom bay to check out all the valves, had to change one.  I took the water inlet screen up to the kitchen sink and cleaned it all up.

All valves in the right location and inlet filter cleaned

While the tank was filling I mixed up some Clorox and added it to the hoses to sanitize them and then sit in the tanks and sanitize them.  Later I will go out and drain the tanks overnight.  Tomorrow I will half fill the tanks and we should be good to go.  I flushed the pink stuff out of the ice maker also, next week I will plug it in to check the refrigerator and freezer.  I also installed our Oxygenics Shower head and checked it out.  Then I moved the Coach back to its spot for the night.  I will move it since the hoses do not reach.

I drained the gas out of the snowblowers and took the small one down to the shed for the summer.  Hoping the keep the cub cadet one in the garage since the mice like to nest in it.  Then I jumped on the mower and cut the grass out by the road as a test run, all worked well.

230.0 hours to start the season

Then on to the tractor to take the gas bottles out front to cut off an old pole anchor that has been in my way for 13 years, finally gone.

Dug down and cut off the old anchor

Then I moved some flat rocks Bonnie has been collecting down near the shed to store them.  While there I turned over and loosened some mulch for her also.

I figured that was enough for today so headed in to change.  Bonnie got home from her Dr. Appointment and shopping.  She brought home among other things 9 pounds of Sahlen Hot Dogs.

Best Hot Dogs in Buffalo?

These are for my sister and family down in the Spring City area of Pennsylvania.  I chatted online with her to see how she wanted them packaged since they needed to frozen.

All 62 vacuum packed and ready for the freezer.

I have been expecting a shipment from Amazon today and we just heard the truck pull in.  A couple things for the Coach, so more work to do for tomorrow.  Still want to open the tank drain tonight.

Well thats it for today, guess I will get this posted.  Thanks for Checking In.