Hanging Out in WAWA Land

This is the time of year that I usually post my Year in Review blogpost. But since we are kinda busy at the moment that post may have to wait until later. First a status update:

We took off as scheduled at Oh Dark Thirty on Monday morning headed south to New Jersey. The trip started off well with all systems working fine ... until the sun came up. The first thing I noticed after the sun came up was that the slideout cover on the bedroom slide was a bit unfurled and flapping in the breeze as we drove down the road. Nothing serious -- but not right either. So I pulled over on the side of the highway and examined the problem. It seems the cover wasn't rolling up correctly as the slide was pulled back in so I had to get out my ladder and "help" it roll in. The permanent fix would have to wait till later .. but at least we could continue on our way. Several hours and a few hundred miles later I noticed the car brakes were not working when I applied the brakes on the motorhome. Not a big deal since the motorhome brakes will stop the combination with no problems under most circumstances ... but still ... not the way things are supposed to be! I pulled over at the next convenient rest stop to check out the brakes and found that the car battery had died ... and therefore the brake system wouldn't actuate. Well that's not good at all! I knew that towing the Fusion with the key in the Accessory position for several hours at a time might cause the battery to die so I had installed a charge wire from the motorhome to the car to prevent that from happening. Apparently it wasn't doing its job! I tried a bit of troubleshooting at the rest stop but really couldn't accomplish much so we would have to continue our trip with no car brakes.

We made it to NJ without further incident, arriving around 5 PM. Our son Brian and our granddaughters Alyssa and Emily came over to welcome us ... bringing us some "hoagies" from one of the local WAWA stores. Yup  ... you know you're in Jersey when you are eating food from the WAWA!

You may have noted that our Daughter-In-Law Nicole was not able to join us for arrival night dinner. Nicky has been in the hospital for the past few weeks recovering from a very bad infection. We spent a few hours on Tuesday visiting with her in the hospital and found out earlier today that it will probably be Saturday before she is released. That being the case ... it looks like we will be staying here in NJ until at least Sunday. We'll have to see how she is doing then before we make any final plans for continuing our trip.

I spent a few hours this morning troubleshooting the car charging problem and found the culprit. When I installed the charge wire to the Fusion I installed a "Battery Maintainer" gadget at the car side connection that contains a fuse and a diode. The fuse protects against a short circuit situation and the diode prevents the car battery from discharging towards the motorhome side. I found the gadget is not allowing current to flow and since the fuse is not blown I suspect the diode has opened for some reason. I removed the "Battery Maintainer" and installed a simple fuse holder/fuse in its place and all seems to be working correctly again. I really do not know why the gadget failed but all seems to be better now.

This afternoon Peggy and I will be heading over to Brian's place to spend New Years Evening with the grandkids while Brian does his thing at his Pizza Business. It seems New Years is a big Pizza night and it's all hands on deck at the store tonight.

So ... now that all ya'll are caught up it's time for us to get busy and head to the store and then over to see the Gang. 

The Year in Review for 2014 can wait .... but now it's time to ring in 2015!

DISHed!

We have survived Christmas 2014! Well almost. The date is behind us, the Christmas Eve service is past, the exchanging of gifts betwixt all us Maine Evringham's is over ... but we still have some celebrating to do with those NJ Evringhams. So we will fire up Santa's WinneSleigh on Monday and carry a bunch of gifts down to the Garden State to spread a little Christmas joy down there!

We spent a few hours on Christmas Day traveling to Richmond to share some time and gifts with Stacy, Kaj, and Taylor ... and then over to Auburn to see Eric, Jen, and Sophie and do the same there. Nothing more fun that watching little ones enjoy Christmas morning!

After our fun morning we traveled back home and got to work. Since it was a balmy 50 degrees outdoors it was a great time to take down those outdoor lights while Peggy started putting away all the inside Christmas decorations ... and also managed to put together a great Christmas rib roast dinner around that work.

Today was more of the same. Off to LL Bean to exchange some gifts for a different size, do some pre-travel shopping at a couple of local stores, and get the cable/internet service cancelled ... then back home to un-trim the tree, re-activate our DISH Satellite TV service, and raise our wireless phone service data limit since our phones will be our connection to the internet for the next several months.

The open items on our pre-travel checklist is getting smaller and smaller! But we still have enough to keep us busy for the next couple of days.

Speaking of DISH Satellite Service ... they are not high on my nomination list for Customer Service Provider of the Year. I should preface the comments below by saying that I used to have DIRECTV Satellite Service and thought they were pretty poor when it comes to Customer Satisfaction and I have had more than my share of frustrations with Comcast Cable Company ... but DISH is rapidly coming into contention for the worst of the bunch. They started off our re-established relationship with one strike against them since they and the Fox News Network can't seem to come to agreement on rates so Fox News is no longer on DISH. But I figure .. this stuff happens all the time and they will soon solve their differences and Fox will be back ... but then I discover that DISH and Comcast Sportsnet New England similarly failed to negotiate a new agreement back in AUGUST and therefore I can no longer watch Boston Celtics games on DISH! So let me review ... No Fox News and No Boston Celtics ... what the heck is there left to watch? I'm down to Alaska based or car restoration reality shows ... or maybe ... just maybe ... a decent old movie! Peggy is in real trouble if we actually have to talk to each other!! 

Thank goodness we still have Facebook!

2 and A-Wake-Up.

Six & A Wake Up

We are in full get-ready-to-go as well as Christmas mode now. The presents are under the tree, some of the Christmas Cards (we are calling them New Years cards now) have been mailed, Winne is home, and the days are counting down. We have changed to Plan C since it looks like the NJ Gang will not be able to join us for Christmas. We are sorta back to plan "A" - in that we will be heading for NJ as our first stop on our way south ... but we are leaving a little later than the original plan .. shooting for Monday the 29th now. Kyla will be coming home for Christmas on the 28th and Stacy & family have a Christmas get together/dinner planned for the 28th so we will be attending that first. It will be great to be able to see Kyla before we leave so "it's all good."

We had Sophie for a visit for a few hours on Friday and Taylor visited for a few hours on Saturday and  few hours more this morning ... we will miss those two munchkins as well as their parents while we are gone ... but we will be skyping often I hope!

So the last of the house preparation chores are in progress ... the heating oil tank is full, the propane tank is full, the mail forwarding is arranged, and the cable/internet service will be stopped on Friday. We will be busy this weekend getting all the Christmas stuff put away!

Six & A Wake Up to go!

Yamaha Project Done (for now)

Since we are now only 2 weeks away from "hitting the road," and only about a week from having company from New Jersey, I figured I better get that "old" Yamaha put back together so I could move it out of Peggy's room and over to the unfinished side of the basement where it can wait until spring for more work.

I put the word "old" in quotes up above since I'm not sure that bike qualifies as "old" anymore. Most of its parts are about 50 years old ... but most of those parts have all been cleaned, plated, painted and made to look like new. 

Then there are the "new" parts. Most of the "new" parts were new in 1960-something and then sat around gathering dust for the last 50 years. It has been interesting finding and buying these "New Old Stock" parts. The parts cost about 10 times what they would have cost in the 60s and many of them come in the original packaging, complete with original dust from the 60s!

A few of the replacement parts are in-fact "new" reproductions of the original parts. These parts come from Thailand, Indonesia, or China where I believe these bikes are still in use as daily modes of transportation!

SO ... the Yamaha is mostly back together. In these pictures only the exhaust tailpipe is not re-installed.

There will be more work to be done when I get home. I will probably put the tailpipe back on after I do a little dent repair and repaint it. It will eventually get re-chromed but I may wait for next winter for that. I also still need to put in all the lubricating oils and then get the newly bored engine started and "broken in."

But for now ... that project is done! 

Now I need to hope it will fit through the doors and make it out of Peggy's room!?

The Countdown Continues

We are in full Get Ready For Christmas Mode now. The tree is up, the outside lights are up, Peggy's snowman and angel collections are out, the nativity scene is prominently displayed. The presents are "mostly" acquired and the greeting cards may make it out before Christmas. There is certainly a lotta "stuff" to keep one occupied during this season. But in spite of all the "stuff" I think we are continuing to keep the "reason for the season" in mind ... so "it's all good."

We are under 20 days and A Wake Up to go before we have scheduled ourselves to be heading south and west for a few months so we have started those chores as well. Doctor appointments to get out of the way, prescriptions to get filled, house to get ready for winter layup, vehicles maintenance to care for ... yes indeed it is a busy time of year for us snowbirds. Although we have been "RVing" for about 10 years now this will only be our 6th year of escaping some of winter for warmer climates. And to tell you the truth ... I think we like it more and more each time! Maine is a beautiful place to live ... from mid May to mid October. The other 6 months are also beautiful ... and look really nice on an emailed picture while you are sitting out in the sun sipping margaritas somewhere where nobody knows what a snowblower looks like!

I figure next week it will be time to shift into serious "get ready to roll" mode. Hopefully Winne will awaken with little complaint when I get her out of storage and bring her home for pre-travel system checkouts and loading. Since we used her in early October for our short visit to Bar Harbor I'm expecting (hoping for) no surprises! But there's always something!!

Actually the timing is pretty good. As you can see from the photo below the Yamaha restoration project is pretty much done for now. I will get the newly bored cylinder and new piston installed this weekend and finish up a few details, like installing the front tire, front fender, and rear turn signals early next week .... and then she can sit in the basement --- waiting for spring.

Just like me ... but I'm planning on waiting where it's warmer!

December Chillin - 27 and A Wake Up

We had a pretty great Thanksgiving Day last Thursday - in spite of the 8" or so of heavy wet snow that fell on Thanksgiving Eve. We awoke on Thursday and spent several hours snowblowing the driveway and shoveling the back deck before coming in for our dose of ibuprofen and nice warm muscle soothing showers. Nothing like a little exercise before preparing for the Thanksgiving feast. The good news -- We were a lot better off than a lot of folks around here that were without power for a good portion of the day!

Stacy, Taylor and the Turkey Frying duo of Kaj and Bailey arrived around noon and immediately went to work getting the oil hot and the turkey cooking ... while the rest of us sat around inside watching them through the window and eating all the snacks that made it out before dinner. Before you knew it (about 45 minutes) the turkey was done and inside getting prepared for serving - along with all the other goodies. Three cooks in our small kitchen is about 2 cooks too many!

So --- we ate our fill (and then some) of a wonderful traditional turkey dinner, watched a little football, and just generally enjoyed the time with the Johansens. 

With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us ... we move on to Christmas. Since we will be leaving soon after Christmas Day we decided to get (some of) the Christmas decorations set up early (for us). The tree and its decorations went up between football games on Sunday and the outside lights went up on Monday. It sure was nice getting those lights done in 50 degree weather instead of the sub-freezing wind-blowing conditions I usually choose! Of course it will more than likely be frigid when it is time to take them back down ... but then again Brian will be here ... so all I will need to do is supervise!

I see gas is down to around $2.85 per gallon here in Topsham this morning which means it is less just about everywhere else in the country! What the heck just happened? Did good ol' American knowhow and capitalism increase oil and gas production in spite of the federal government's attempts to stop such a thing from happening? I think so!!! I will not try to get too excited - I know it's only temporary -- but I intend to enjoy it while I can! Look out America - the Blue and White Winne is about to hit the road and burn up some of that non-renewable energy! 

Speaking of Winne - it's getting about time to go visit her and see how she is holding up in her storage spot. I don't want her to think she is going to be there too much longer - she might want to sit still up here in the frozen north while I'm wanting to go south and escape the cold. With only 27 and A Wake Up to go now it won't be long before it will be time to wake her up and bring her home for outfitting. Winne should be pretty much ready to go although she still needs new tires. In spite of my best efforts to get those tires while we were home all summer - the local dealer couldn't seem to get any. I've done some calling around and apparently all the RV tires are down south. The warehouse in Lower Alabama has 24 and one in Florida has around 20 more. SO -- my new plan is to drive south and help out the economy down there. I will probably get the tires while we are in Florida ... I'll just have to carry an extra bucket of cash with me!

I have continued to keep out of trouble by putting more and more of the Yamaha back together. I now have all the painted pieces back from my paint guy and they are going back where they belong with the newly cleaned, plated, and polished hardware. I try and do a little each day without rushing the process. After-all ... what's the hurry ... it's not like I plan on riding it anytime soon!

Heading towards the Holidays

This will be my second attempt at writing this post. I tried a couple of days ago but then "lost" the almost completed post. I don't know where I lost it, it just disappeared into wherever such things go. So I try again ...

Peggy and I have recovered from whatever virus we had. Her coughing has pretty much subsided and my sinus' ability to generate copious amounts of yuk requiring constant nose blowing has slowed down to only about 12 tissues a day.

And not a moment too soon as the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us. We will be hosting a feast again this year for us and the Johansen family. We are hoping to see Eric, Jen, and Sophie as well for a few hours over the holiday but they are dining elsewhere on Thursday. Although Peggy will be busy preparing all the "stuff" that comes with a traditional Thanksgiving feast - we will once again be relying on Chefs Kaj and Bailey Johansen together with their turkey fryer for the cooking of the bird. They do a great job!

Speaking of family get togethers ... it looks like the New Jersey Evringhams will be able to make it north to Maine for Christmas! It's always good to see them and it will be extra nice to be able to visit during the Christmas holiday. I betcha Santa will know that they are here and maybe ... just maybe ... Brian will get more than a lump of coal this year!

Since the New Jersey Gang is coming north - we are changing our plans to visit the Garden State on our way south. Instead of leaving the day after Christmas as originally planned -- we are planning on leaving New Year's Eve (day). We will probably skirt around New Jersey to the west and travel over to I-81 in Pennsylvania before heading south. But as is usual -- all of this is subject to change depending on the weather ... and our moods at the time. So ... that leaves us with 36 and A Wake Up!

I have also been busier than planned working on my Yamaha restoration project this last week. I took all the pieces needing paint over to my friend Glenn a bit over a week ago and to my surprise he got right to work prepping and painting! In the meantime I got to work cleaning, prepping, and painting the engine and then moved on to prepping and electro-plating all the various nuts, bolts, and brackets that will need to go back on during the reassembly process. Pretty much every steel piece of hardware is being electro-plated with a polished zinc-tin coating and any aluminum pieces are being polished to look "like-new." This is the time consuming part of restoring an old vehicle ... but all the detail work now will pay off when it is all back together. In fact ... it is already starting to pay off! Glenn finished up the frame the other day so I started putting a few pieces I had completed back on ... 

It's starting to look like a motorcycle again!

Oh -- and no wise comments about having a motorcycle engine on the desk of my old Ham Radio room ... or a motorcycle being constructed in Peggy's "Resource Room" in the basement. I've done weirder things ... just ask Peggy!

Liquor and Lunch

Well those "stuffy noses" I reported in my last post turned into full blown viruses with all the attendant symptoms like cough, fever, aches, lack of sleep, and general yuckiness. Peggy probably had it worse than I and she developed a nasty case of bronchitis. But the worst seems to be over and we are on the mend now (crossed fingers)!

We hardly ventured out of the house last week ... so we celebrated feeling better with a day trip yesterday to New Hampshire for Liquor and Lunch. Although we awoke to a few inches of fluffy white snow in the trees and on the lawn, the roads were clear and the day turned mostly sunny for our L&L trip. Why drive all the way to NH for Liquor you say!? Well with Thanksgiving less than 2 weeks away we figured we would stock up on some wine for those joining us for the "feast"ivities -- and then I needed to stock up on the makings for Dortha's Margaritas in case I run in to the Patterson's on our way South ... and Mikee was out of Vodka ... and the prices are MUCH better in NH!!

Not only those perfectly good reasons ... but with the price of gasoline now less than $3.00 a gallon ... and with the new Fusion Hybrid ... the 160 mile round trip only cost about $12.

Speaking of the Fusion and fuel mileage ... we have put about 3,400 miles on the new car and filled her up on 9 separate occasions. We averaged about 41.5 mpg on the first 7 fillups but that has dropped to about 35.5 mpg now that the weather has turned cold. The hybrid technology is great but you really see a dropoff in efficiency when the gasoline engine has to run more often to keep the passengers warm inside. Because of the regenerative braking feature that charges the high voltage battery when you use the brakes to slow down - I think you actually get better gas mileage in more of a city driving kind of environment. I know we could get even better mileage if we changed our driving habits to drive with mileage as our goal ... but we don't. We both drive pretty much the way we always have. 

Overall I think we are still happy with our decision to buy the Fusion. There are a few things we liked better about the Vue (a little easier to enter and exit ... and Peggy doesn't care for the vision range in the passenger seat (sits too low for her)) ... but overall we are satisfied customers. Things I like the most (other than the fuel mileage) are the very quiet ride, the responsive handling, and the overall good looks.

When we purchased the Fusion the advertised Estimated EPA Fuel Mileage was 47 mpg. Based on my research I expected to get closer to 42 mpg in "normal" driving conditions. Interestingly enough -- on the day we purchased the car Ford announced that they had made a mistake in calculating the EPA Estimate and that they were downgrading the estimate to 42 mpg (average). Even better ... they also announced that those who had previously bought one at the 47 mpg estimate would be reimbursed $750 for Ford's mistake. Thank You Ford!

So here we sit in Maine with only 40 days and A Wake Up left before we head south. Those 40 days are going to go by really fast starting about now. We have lots to do to get ready for Thanksgiving ... and Christmas ... not to mention the normal "get ready to travel" stuff we need to accomplish. 

Most of you are experiencing some colder than normal weather right about now so bundle up and keep warm! These Maineiacs are certainly doing so!

A Visit from Taylor ... and other Pre-Winter Stuff

Here we are into the second week of November. My how time flies.

We started off last week with a 4 day visit from Miss Taylor. It seems her dad had a conference in San Diego and her mom had the opportunity to tag along ... so Gramma and I tried to fill in for a few days. Taylor and Papa got to have fun shoveling the first snow of the season .. and we made a snowman we named Snowman Squarebody.

And Gramma and Taylor had fun doing all sorts of stuff ... including face and body painting.

We all managed to survive the experience but Taylor was really glad to get back home on Thursday. But she left behind a few toddler germs so Gramma and Papa could remember her stay for a days more!

In spite of our stuffy noses we traveled north to Hampden, Maine (near Bangor) on Saturday to watch young Bailey Johansen and his Richmond High Bobcats take on Bangor Christian Academy for the Mens Class D Maine State Soccer Championship. The Bobcats played a great game on a really cold day and came out victorious - with a 3-0 win!

Oh yeah - I almost forgot - we made our way over to our local election polling station and cast our votes on Tuesday. For the first time in a very long time most of the people and issues I voted for actually won! I'm not crazy enough to think that major change is going to be realized anytime soon, but I do have more hope for the future than I have had for quite some time!

In REAL exciting news ... the price of regular gasoline here in Topsham dropped below $3.00 per gallon the other day! Now that's change I can get excited about!

Friday was take apart the Yamaha day. It really didn't take that long ... a few twists of the screwdriver here and a few turns of the wrench there ... and next thing you know the Yamaha was nothing but a bunch of blue sheet metal, an engine, a couple of wheels, and a box of miscellaneous parts. Sometime next week I will try and get the blue parts over to Glen - my paint and body guy - for a new coat of the original color. While Glen is doing his magic on those parts I will spend some time cleaning, polishing, painting and generally refurbishing the remaining parts. She will be looking pretty spiffy for her 50th birthday next year!

Next Up -- Get ready for Turkey Day! (Right after we get feeling better)

46 and a Wake-Up!

Dreams of a Snowbird

Well - we made it to November 1st. Yippee. Now what?

Let's see .. the contractors finished painting the gable ends of the house, I finished cleaning up behind the contractors, the Chevelle got put in storage, we survived Halloween, and a bit of snow is in the forecast tonight and tomorrow.

Yup - time to start thinking hard about heading south. 

But not real soon ... we still have plenty of Taylor and Sophie visits to accomplish, lots of leaves still need piling, bagging, and dumping, ... we need to get past Turkey Day and then there is Christmas to look forward to! Oh yeah -- I forgot --- we still have to figure out the loss of an hour in the bi-annual insanity of "Saving Daylight" tonight and then there is the big Election to survive next week. What the heck are we going to do when all we have to watch on TV is regular old commercials?

Whew ... I'm all tuckered out just thinking of how to fill in the next 54 days. This retired life really is difficult!

I am pretty sure it will go by fast. We start off this next week with taking care of Miss Taylor for 4 or so days ... so I know those days will be busy. And then there is watching young Bailey in the Western Maine and then State Championship Soccer games.

And on - and on - and on.

You probably figured out that I'm not complaining - just explaining. Wouldn't want it any other way!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 All that aside, I am looking forward to more "Adventures With Peggy." Our penciled in itinerary still has us heading to central Florida for a few days - perhaps by way of Savannah, GA and then maybe St. Augustine. We have been to Savannah several times now and really enjoy visiting there but we have only been to St. Augustine once and there is lots more for us to see/do there I'm sure!

After a short visit in central Florida we plan on heading to the Escapee Rainbow Plantation - one of our favorite spots in Lower Alabama. We always enjoy the fun, food, and camaraderie at "The Plantation." I suspect we will stay a week or so at the Plantation filling up on shrimp before heading further west.

Although I'm not at all sure of our route getting there - the penciled in itinerary has us showing up at "North Ranch" (another "Escapee" park) in Congress, Arizona somewhere around the 1st of February. 

Since we can't be in "the west" without going to check up on Nan (my mom) - after resting up at North Ranch for several days we plan on heading north to Minden, NV for a few weeks. Hopefully the February weather will cooperate while we are there! It can get pretty cold in that country that time of year.

Around the 1st of March we plan on heading back to Arizona and may take in the Escapee Club "Escapade" rally in Tucson before starting our trip back home. As always -- all destinations, times, and events are subject to change at any time.

Who knows? We may find someplace we really like that has no snow to shovel, no leaves to rake, good Margaritas, cheap shrimp and BBQ, free accommodations, and plenty of warm sunny days to warm our bones all winter. If so -- we may just stay right there!

54 and a Wake Up!

Making Progress ... and hope for more.

Today has been one of those laid-low-stay-in-your jammies kind of days. The wind has been howling, the rain has been pelting down, and the temp hasn't moved much all day ... hovering around 50 degrees. Just the kind of day to take care of those projects on your list that don't require venturing outside. It has been raining fairly steady now for a coupe of days and we are sure glad this nor'easter has been a rain event and not snow. Otherwise we would be digging out for weeks!

Some good news ... the painters arrived on Tuesday to start on the job I wanted done. The bad news .. they only got about 2 hours of work done before the rains came. At least the job is started so perhaps they can get 'er done before November shows up.

Remember way back in July when I was getting the lights wired up for towing the new Fusion I mentioned that dealing with the Fusion's LED tail lights added a few complications to the process? Although the lights worked as expected when we did our test tow earlier this month I still wasn't happy with the brightness of my tail light solution. As you may remember ... I had no difficulty getting the turn signals and brake lights to work but I had to install and wire some LEDs in the red lens section of the tail light assembly to get the tail light function to work. Unfortunately those LEDs just don't put out the brightness I would like. So I moved on to plan "D."  Plan "D" involved purchasing a nifty chrome license plate frame that has a row of LEDs at the bottom - specifically designed for trailer use with two brightness settings. I installed the frame a few days ago and wired the LEDs to the "bright" setting. The results were much better!! Nobody will miss seeing the rear of the Fusion now!

So ... Winne is in storage but ready to roll at a moments notice (although I would still like to get some new tires on her before we head south) and the Fusion is all ready to be towed. 63 days and a Wake Up!!

I reckon my next fall project (besides the constant battle with leaves) is to get the Chevelle cleaned up and in storage. With all the other stuff we had to cram in to the summer months the Chevelle didn't get driven much (again) ... but she will be ready and willing again next summer. 

Then there is the Yamaha. I'll probably wait until sometime just before Thanksgiving to do the pre-painting disassembly. I know, it seems like such a shame to take apart a perfectly good running machine ... but sometimes you have to go backwards in order to make forward improvements.

Mmmm ... that sorta reminds me of the upcoming election. Sometimes you have to experience the bad times .. and be shocked with how bad things really are ... so that you will be jolted into movement in a more productive direction. I certainly hope America is awake now ... they certainly should be by now!

More Fall Chores

Another week gone by ... another week of fall chores ... and another week closer to the end of election season.

I spent most of my week getting Winne cleaned, winterized, and back in storage and then I moved on to a bit of home repair I have been putting off for several years.

You may recall that I painted our house a few summers ago ... or should I say I painted the lower portion of our house. I did not paint the gable ends of the house because 1) I don't have a ladder tall enough, 2) it really looks like a lot of work climbing up and down that ladder tens of dozens of times to scrape, prime, and then finally paint those tongue 'n groove vertical boards, and 3) the more I look at it - the older I get.

I finally did get a couple of local contractors to give me an estimate on getting the work done a couple of months ago. Unfortunately the contractor of choice told me he couldn't get to it until late October at best. Even more unfortunately - I took a good look at the north side where the breezeway roof attaches to the house and where the snow tends to collect and melt slowly ... and found that several boards were getting rotten. No problem sez me -- I will simply get some similar boards and replace them!

Let's see now -- those boards are not only tongue 'n groove but they have a "scallop" milled on one end ... and they were installed in about 1960. Shouldn't be hard to find some matching boards right? Several days later, several phone calls later, and a hundred mile round trip drive on a lovely fall day and I had the boards I needed. Piece of Cake!

The good news is I got the necessary boards cut, fit, primed, and replaced today -- right before the rains move in tomorrow.

Now if I can only get that contractor over here to finish the painting. Although I could change my mind and do it myself.

Nah ....

2 Maine Antiques

For those of you who care ... and the rest of you too ... I thought you would like to know that the Yamaha not only lives, breathes, and smokes (like any good two-cycle engine should) -- but she also is now a legal source of transportation!

After receiving a number of new rubber replacement pieces and getting those installed, getting the new seat installed, and cleaning out the rust from inside the fuel tank and filling it with some fresh gas I figured I might as well insure it - register it - and take it for a test ride or two before taking it apart for more winter-time restoration work.

After installing the new "Antique" Motorcycle plate yesterday I strapped on an old helmet I still had from a previous life and hit the road. I'm sure the folks here in my neighborhood found a new reason to wonder about that old retired guy that lives down the road, and I'm sure a few drivers on Maine Street and Route 201 were wondering what the heck that thing was that was smoking (literally) down the highway at a whopping 50-60 mph ... but I say "get over it!" - I may be Antique - just like that Yamaha - but you still have to deal with us because we still have a few miles left!

But today I'm back to reality getting Winne ready for more rest in her storage spot for a couple of months before she needs to wake up and carry us south for the winter.

Only ...

23 days to Halloween
50 days to Thankgiving
78 days to Christmas

and a "Wake Up."

Happy 44th

The hitch itch got scratched, the weather cooperated, and we had a great few days sightseeing in and around Bar Harbor.

We left home around 1 PM on Wednesday after hooking up the new Fusion for its first towing excursion. We took the interstate route for this trip - Up I-295 to Gardiner where we hooked up with I-95. We had short lunch break at the Gardiner Service Plaza and took that opportunity to check over all the towing gear to make sure everything was working OK. All systems were working fine so we continued on our way up I-95 to Bangor and then southeast to Bar Harbor. We stopped one more time on the way so stretch and to adjust the brake pressure on the Invisibrake system in the Fusion. My goal was to keep raising the pressure until the braking action in the car felt like it was too much and then to back it down a bit. Although I know the brakes were actuating - it still didn't seem excessive.

We rolled into our destination at the Narrows Too RV Resort just after 4 PM and got settled in. As usual - Winne ran great and all systems were working like they were supposed to. Even though we hadn't been on-the-road for several months it took only minutes for it to seem like just yesterday. Same things in the same spots - same smells - same noises.

After a great night's sleep and a leisurely start to our day we loaded ourselves in the Fusion around 10:00 AM and headed for Acadia National Park on a cool but sunny Fall day. After the obligatory stop at the Park Visitor's Center we started along the loop road and decided to start our day up at the top of Cadillac Mountain. The Cadillac Mountain summit is at 1,528 feet and is the highest point within 25 miles of the shoreline on the east coast of the United States. It was a bit windy at the summit and chilly at around 63 degrees - but the views were fantastic.

After getting chilled to the bone and since it was getting close to noon we decided to head to Jordan Pond for afternoon Tea and Popovers. Actually we had lobster stew (me) and seafood chowder (Peggy) with our Tea and Popovers and it was all as scrumptious as in past visits. The day was warming, the sun was shinning, and the fall colors were bright ... so we hit the road once again for a trip around the east coast of Mt Desert Island along the Park Loop Road - First stop - Sand Beach ... 

and then some gorgeous views along Otter Point ...

 

and then some quiet time at Bubble Pond ... 

Before calling it a day. 

For dinner we treated ourselves to some great BBQ at Mainely Meat BBQ. We both rated this place just below Bill's BBQ in Kerrville TX as one of our favorite BBQ joints. Whodathunkit?

After another good night sleep we finally made it out for more sightseeing on Friday - around noon. Today's excursion was to the other side of Frenchman Bay and another part of Acadia National Park - at Schoodic Point.

First we did a bit of shoreline tide pool exploring just south of Winter Harbor.

And then checked out the waves crashing into the rocks at Schoodic Point.

It was still only about 4 PM when we returned to the south side of the Bay so we decided to head over to Seal Cove and check out the Seal Cove Auto Museum. The museum is relatively small but contains some really fine (and very expensive) examples of "Brass Era" cars from the early 1900s to about 1927 and the end of the Model T era.

This Peugeot was my favorite ...

And I liked this Stanley Steamer.

and this early Indian motorcycle.

But alas the day was drawing to a close ... as was the museum ... so it was time to head home from another busy day.

Today was an overcast and misty day ... so it made for a good travel day back home. 

So ... Happy Anniversary to Us! A fun but short trip to a beautiful place at a beautiful time of year.

Now it's time to get Winne back in storage and back to the rest of our Fall activities.

Scratching the Itch

Winne is home now. That big chip in her fiberglass front cap is all repaired along with a few hundred other road debris chips. As long as she was getting a face lift I figured we might as well get all the blue up front redone since I had some paint left over from repairing that wet bay door we fixed a few years ago. 

Since I had to reinstate the liability insurance on Winne in order to get her out of storage ... and since she is full of fuel and propane ... and since we need to complete a test pull on the Fusion before heading out on a long trip this winter ... and since it is Peggy and my Anniversary next Saturday ... and since it is beautiful up around Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park this time of year ... and since I have a nagging case of "hitch itch" ... I suppose we had no choice but to plan a short excursion "downeast" for later this week.

So we did.

We plan on heading north to Bar Harbor on Wednesday afternoon and spending a few days just relaxing and playing tourist before heading home on Saturday. 

Then I can get Winne winterized and put back in her storage spot for a few more months before waking her up again to head south for the winter. As of this moment ... our winter plans are to head south shortly after Christmas - spend a few days seeing the NJ Gang - head to Florida for a short visit with some friends - then over to "The Plantation" in Alabama for some more visiting with more friends - then take a few weeks to travel to Arizona. Sometime shortly after Groundhog Day I figure we will head north to Minden, NV to visit with Nan and the West Coast Gang for a few weeks before heading back to Arizona around the first of March. At the moment we plan on attending the Escapees RV Club "Escapade" again in Tucson in early March before setting sail back home with an ETA around April Fools Day.

Yup ... you can tell I have a bad case of hitch itch.

Fall Chores

Fall has arrived in Maine. The highs are barely getting into the 70s and the lows are dipping into the low 40s and even into the high 30s once in awhile. With Fall comes crisp mornings, comfortable afternoons, bright colorful leaves, apples, acorns, and leaf raking.

Last Thursday we celebrated Peggy's birthday with a late morning breakfast at the Fairground Cafe here in Topsham and then hit the road for day-trip through northwestern Maine. We took the "backroads" up through Turner, Rumford, and Mexico - through the Rangeley Lakes Region - visiting Mooselookmeguntic Lake and Rangeley Lake before heading back through Farmington and then around Cobbosseecontee Lake. Don't you just love those names? We have been on most of these roads at sometime in the past - but a few stretches were new to us - like this stop at Coos Canyon in Byron, Maine.

Our travel day was mostly bright and sunny but the wind was pretty blustery and the temps downright chilly when we stopped for some photo ops near Mooselookmeguntic Lake.

And Rangeley Lake ...

When we left Topsham we saw just a bit of color in the trees but there was lots of color up around the lakes. Today - a week later - the color has really started to blossom even down here.

We spent a few hours in Richmond on Saturday visiting with Taylor, Stacy, Kaj, and Bailey - along with Grandpa Carl who was visiting from Washington state. We participated in Miss Taylor's birthday party (actually her second birthday party this year since they waited for Grandpa Carl's arrival for the BIG party). I now know lots about Doc McStuffins!

As I mentioned in my last post - now that it has turned Fall - it is time to get Winne ready for Winter travel. I know, I know ... I typed the "Winter" word - but it had to be done. While I really do enjoy these Fall days - we all know they won't last too long and that Winter is not far away. Soooo ... Winne was retrieved from storage a couple of days ago. Instead of bringing her directly home I took her over to visit Glenn -- my "Body Shop" friend. Glenn is going to take care of that big rock chip I got in Winne's front cap a couple of trips ago and do a few other "touch ups" here and there. 

Prior to Winne entering the body shop I took the opportunity to get up on the roof and get that scrubbed down and then washed the sides. Winne may not have done any traveling these past few months but she managed to get pretty filthy just "resting."

I also completed the wiring I needed to accomplish to make Winne ready to tow the new Fusion. The new Invisibrake system installed in the Fusion includes a "monitor" light - which is installed in the motorhome to let you know when the towed car brakes have been applied. Installation is pretty straightforward as you simply need to run one wire from the trailer connector on the back of the motorhome - along the frame - and then up inside to wherever you are going to mount the light/beeper. I chose a spot in the dash where a light had already been installed by Winnebago to remind us to lower the outside TV antenna. I always found that light kind of useless since it really didn't monitor the position of the antenna and came on every time you started the engine - regardless of antenna position - and therefore I tended to ignore it anyway! So now Winne has a new light in the same spot that comes on when the car's brakes are applied. The monitor system also includes a "beeper" that sounds if the brakes have been applied for more that 20 seconds. The Invisibrake System limits any single brake application to 15 seconds - except when the "breakaway" system actuates - so the audible warning alerts you that something is wrong back there!

I also installed a "Charge Wire" to Winne's trailer connector. Per the Ford instructions for towing the Fusion - the transmission gear selector needs to be in "Neutral" and the key needs to be in the "Accessory" position. Since the key is in "Accessory" there are several items that could be using DC battery power while the car is being towed and if you tow the car for several hours the battery might get discharged to the point where the car won't start. Now I'm not 100% sure why Ford wants the key in Accessory instead of "Off" ... and the key will physically go to Off even with the transmission in Neutral ... but I'm going to trust Ford that there is a good reason for doing so. SO -- to prevent the Fusion's battery from discharging - the new Charge Wire allows Winne's 12 Volt system to keep the Fusion's battery charged up while being towed.

Once all those wiring modifications were complete I hooked up the Fusion and tested it all out - with Success!!

Now on to the Winterization Process!