Birthdays and Borders

Our Rving friends Rod and Debbie Kendall finished up their week here in Topsham this past Sunday and set sail downeast for Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park, and who knows what other adventures. Of course we had to help them find a few more seafood dinners before they left at Captain Mikes for Lobster Pie and The Cabin Restaurant for Shrimp Scampi Pizza. We had to be helpful ya know! They were nice enough to reward us with a pound or so of frozen Rockport (Texas) shrimp, some smoked Alaskan salmon, and some canned Alaskan salmon ... so we have some more seafood to try in our future!

In between all the trips out playing tourist I did manage to get the deck cleaned and ready for a coat of stain. That process will begin later this next week after all the rain we are presently enjoying passes by. One of my not-so-favorite chores - but it needs to be done. See what I mean about being "retired" ... the Ta-Do-List just never gets to Zero!

Since I needed a rainy day project over these next few days I visited Winne last Saturday and removed those pesky entry steps and brought them home for some cleaning, lubrication, and painting. Taking them off was the easy part. Lugging them to the truck and then down to the basement was a bit tough ... those things are heavy! So far I haven't found any particular reason that would be causing the steps to stop retracting when it's cold outside - so I guess I will just clean them up, apply some rust proofing paint, and lubricate all the various pivot points that can be lubricated. Perhaps that will do the trick. The other solution - and probably the best solution - is not to RV in areas that may get below freezing!

We are smack dab in the middle of birthday season around here. Stacy and I had our birthdays within the last couple of weeks, Kaj's birthday is today and DIL Nicky's is tomorrow -- to be followed by Eric's and then Brian's within the next couple of weeks. That's a lot of birthday cake! How is it that these kids managed to get as old as me? 

Caution: Serious Rant to Follow!
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Based on what I have been reading and seeing on TV lately the world is about to go to heck in a handbasket. 

• The Palestinians are digging tunnels in Gaza to be able to enter Israel in disregard of their laws.
• The Russians are crossing into eastern Ukraine without an invitation from the Ukrainian government.
• Islamist Jihadists have entered into Iraq from Syria firing their weapons along the way.
• Thousands of Hondurans, Guatemalans, and El Salvadorans have crossed into southern Mexico without the permission of the Mexican government.
• Those same thousands of Central American immigrants have made their way north through Mexico and are crossing into the border states of the United States without our permission.

So what makes a border? Is it just some arbitrary line created by government bureaucrats for no good reason? Or is it a necessary creation of human beings to enhance our sense of security? If we live on one side of the line - we feel some security from having our "space" invaded by those on the other side of the line. Those on one side of the line live by one set of rules and those on the other side live by their set of rules. What's wrong with that? 

Apparently one thing that doesn't work is that those who happen to live on the "wrong" side of the line want what's on the "right" side of the line and they decide to go get it - regardless of the rules. Or perhaps they just don't like how the folks on the other side live their lives and decide to go over there and teach them the error of their ways.

Regardless of the reason -- when these lines get crossed -- folks don't feel secure anymore. When folks don't feel secure, they get nervous and angry. Angry folks take rash actions to regain their sense of security.

Bottom Line .... Us humans need borders and borders are worthless unless the rules are enforced. History is full of examples where loss of control of borders has led to some ugly times. So somebody(ies) better start enforcing the rules or we all better stand by for even more chaos!

Summah!

Summer is in full swing here in "Vacationland." The "Summer People" are everywhere you look, the daylilies are blooming, the lobsters are in soft shell, the days are warm and the evenings are still cool enough for fairly comfortable sleeping. 

Stacy, Kaj, and Taylor ended their vacation last week with a couple days of tent camping at Lake Pemaquid Campground. This was their first attempt at family camping - in a tent - in the summer - during peak tourist season - with a 3 year old and a dog who really doesn't like wearing a collar and being leashed. Needless to say - they had some "issues." But all was not bad! Peggy and I joined them for a few hours last Friday. We sat around the picnic table for a visit, watched Taylor climb on the rocks, walked down to the playground and the boat dock ... you know ... all the fun stuff you do when family camping. Stacy tells me she is ready to go again - but I think renting a cabin/cottage may be their next lodging choice. 

Then there was the big birthday party for Mikee on Saturday. Since I made it to 64 years young the Maineiac Evringhams/Johansens came over for a BBQ ribfest. We ate and talked and watched young'uns play ... hard to beat that for a birthday party!

On Sunday some RV friends arrived here in Topsham for their first visit to Maine. Rod and Debbie Kendall are full time RVers but this is their first trip into New England. Debbie told us that she plans on leaving Maine by saying she is sick of eating lobster ... so we had to help get her started.

We picked them up at their RV site here at the Topsham Fairgrounds on Sunday and drove out to Land's End on Bailey Island for a few photos and then over to West Harpswell to visit Estes Lobster House for the second time in one week. Debbie got her start on some lobster stew and a couple of lobster tails while the rest of us opted for shrimp salad (Peggy), mussels and more lobster stew (Mike), crab dip and lobster stew (Rod). A good start -- but more was on-the-way.

On Monday Rod and Debbie made it to Libby's Market for some huge lobster rolls.

On Tuesday they joined Peggy and I for a drive out to Popham Beach - although we never exited the car since every parking place around was full. Even the State Park had overflow parking out along the access road! I reckon the economy must be improving somewhere because there are a bunch of folks visiting Maine! On our way back from the ocean we stopped by Gilmore's Seafood in Bath to pick up the main course for Tuesday dinner ... 10 - 1 and a quarter pound lobsters. It was time for Rod and Debbie to learn how to cook and eat lobster the hard way!

So we got our fill of lobster on Tuesday evening ... but still needed more on Wednesday. So we were off once again for Tuesday lunch to Len's Fish and Chips in Brunswick. This time it was more lobster stew and broiled scallops for Debbie, Peggy, and Mikee while Rod opted for the traditional fried haddock "fish 'n chips." After making short work of that mess o' seafood we were off once again - north on Route 1 to beautiful and touristy Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

We walked about the restaurants and gift shops along the west side of the harbor for a bit and across the waking bridge to the east side before making it back to the car and then driving out to Ocean Point in East Boothbay for more rocky Maine coast photo ops. I was bad and didn't take any pictures. You know how it is when you can get these views anytime - you get lazy and forget about your loyal blog readers. Me Bad ... thank goodness I was able to "steal" most of the pictures on this blog post from Debbie's Facebook posts! 

So... that's how it's been this last week. Lot's of touristy Maine stuff and plenty of seafood. It's been rough ... but we have managed to muddle through it all!

Always RVing

I suppose I never really stop RVing. If we aren't out "on-the-road" I am either getting Winne ready for storage or ready in some fashion for the next trip. This last month it has been focused on getting the new car ready to be towed behind us - and that chore was finally completed (mostly) a few days ago when I finished wiring the electrical connector.

Overall - I am pleased with the way the baseplate installation turned out. The baseplate fit the way it was supposed to, the "looks" of the Fusion's front end wasn't uglied up too much, and all the wiring functions seem to work as designed. I used the trailer connection on the truck for the test of the lights, activation of the Invisibrake System, and the battery charge feature. I still need to install a light and buzzer from the Invisibrake System into Winne and make final brake pressure adjustments during a test pull - but that can wait for awhile.

My next major RV project is to replace Winne's tires. This project will be pretty simple to accomplish since New England Truck Tire, the local Michelin tire supply store, will be doing all the labor ... I simply have to come up with the several buckets of $$ it will take to get the job done. No RVer likes to pay for new tires - especially 6 new tires for a motorhome - but it comes with the territory. Winne's present tires are nearing 7 years old and have about 80,000 miles on them ... so it's time. If there is any good news here I will be saving about a half a bucket of $$ by purchasing the new tires through the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA). The FMCA has an arrangement with Michelin that allows its members to get a discounted price on these rather expensive tires and it looks like I will be saving somewhere between $50-$60 per tire. I haven't been a member of the FMCA for several years now -- but they just re-gained a member! Unfortunately the tires I need are on backorder so it will take several weeks to get them made and delivered to Maine. No worries - perhaps I can find a lawn mowing job to earn some $$ before they show up! 

It's also time to re-visit Winne's pesky electric steps. You may recall that back during the cold weather portion of our last trip these steps failed to retract consistently. They worked fine after the weather warmed up ... but I know the problem will return when the cold weather does. Working on the steps while they are installed involves laying on one's back and reaching up to fiddle with whatever needs fiddling with and I've had enough of that. So this time I intend to remove the whole assembly and work on it here at the house - preferably at my work bench with an ice tea close at hand. Step 1 of this task will be to remove the steps without having them fall on me.

Peggy and I took the day off yesterday on a somewhat rainy summer day and goofed off. We took in the early afternoon showing of "Jersey Boys" ... a fun movie about Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons directed by Clint Eastwood. A very nostalgic trip back into the much simpler times of our teen-age years. Although the 4 Seasons were an east coast group and we grew up on the west coast ... their songs were big out there as well. Of course going out to a movie meant going out for an early dinner as well -- so it was off to Len's Fish and Chips once again for broiled scallops, broiled haddock, and a bit of lobster stew! I may need to find that lawn mowing job sooner that I thought!

More Stayin' Busy

Another week gone by ... and what a week it has been. The weather has been darn right nice with highs in the mid 80s early in the week and in the high 70s these last few. Peggy has continued to complete her VBS preparations and I think she is almost ready. Those kids have no idea how much she puts into getting ready for those 4 days!

As for me ... well I've managed to stay out of trouble ... mostly.  I spent a few days earlier this week getting the tail lights in the Fusion modified for towing. You may recall a few weeks back I did some preliminary work wiring these tail lights so the motorhome turn signals/ brake lights would activate the Fusion's turn signal lights and brake lights. Unfortunately the tail lights would take a bit more work. Since these tail lights don't have the room for a separate bulb powered from the motorhome that simple method won't work. And since these tail lights use some fancy technology to control the brightness of the installed LEDs - they can't be simply fed from the motorhome through a diode setup so that other simple method won't work either. So I did what any good DIYer would do ... I took my perfectly good tail lights out of my brand new car and drilled some holes in the back side to install some LEDs that would be powered from the motorhome. With 6 LEDs installed in each tail light they aren't exactly bright in the daylight but I think they will do the trick for those few times I tow the car at night or during rain storms.

With that chore out of the way I was ready to tackle the last major task in getting the Fusion ready to tow. The new baseplate arrived on Friday so I got a start on Saturday by removing the front bumper cover assembly off the new car. I finished up mounting the new baseplate and reassembling the bumper cover today. I still need to mount and wire the 6 pin electrical connector ... but that task was put off 'till tomorrow! 

But it hasn't all been work-work-work. Miss Taylor came to visit us Friday afternoon and spent the night with Grandma and Papa. We had a fun time playing and reading books and Taylor really liked helping Grandma fix dinner. Stacy and Kaj came over late morning on Saturday to pick up Taylor and we decided to head out for brunch. With no better ideas being presented - we opted for a drive out to Harpswell to Estes Lobster House where we enjoyed a nice meal out on the deck overlooking Harpswell Sound. 

After lunch Stacy and Taylor decided to go for a wade.

Since it was a beautiful day and we were out enjoying it anyway -- Peggy and I took the long way home by driving over to the other side of the Sound and checking out the scenery at Lands End on Bailey Island.

Yessiree ... a very nice week indeed.

Staying Busy

Mikee and Peggy have managed to stay pretty darn busy this past week. Peggy has been working hard on getting all her preparations completed for teaching Vacation Bible School early in August and Mikee has been busy completing his towing modifications to the new Fusion.

We did take a day off last Saturday and made a Saturday afternoon drive up through western Maine and into eastern New Hampshire to Conway, NH. We had no real reason to go there although we used a trip to the nearest Camping World store as an excuse. We had a fun/relaxing day cruising in the new car up into the edge of the White Mountains. We stopped for lunch in North Conway at the local Applebees, checked out the view from Cathedral Ledge just north and a bit west of North Conway, 

and then headed back home on a slightly different path. Nice day for a nice drive! When we arrived in North Conway we needed some fuel in the new car -- our first fill-up -- we averaged right around 41 mpg on that first tank!!

We spent most of Independence Day right here at home as Hurricane/Tropical Storm Arthur spun its way up the east coast toward Maine. Stacy/Kaj/Taylor stopped by for an hour or so in the early afternoon for a visit and then Eric/Jen/Sophie stopped by a few hours later. It doesn't get much better than that! We especially enjoyed seeing Miss Sophie walk all over the place as she learns to master her new found skill!

I spent several days last week getting the Fusion ready to tow. I got the Brake Relay Kit installed on Sunday, the Battery Charge Line installed on Wednesday, and the Invisbrake Supplemental Braking System installed on Thursday and Friday. I can't say it was "easy" but I did manage to get it "almost" done. I still need to wire up the 6-Pin connector to the front of the car after I get the baseplate installed and I have some minor wiring to do on Winne to install the "Toad" brake monitor light. All the testing I have been able to accomplish so far shows everything working as designed ... but I won't really know how well it works until I get it all done and do a test tow behind Winne.

The Invisibrake System install was certainly the most difficult. This system uses a air piston and cable system to pull the Fusions brake pedal when called for by signals sent by the motorhome to a controller mounted in the Fusion. As the name implies -- once installed, the system is just about invisible.

The air piston is installed behind the drivers door "B" pillar (Nope - you can't see it!). 

The Controller is installed in the trunk where the spare would be if this car had one! (Again - you can't see it unless you lift up the trunk mat). 

You can barely see the connection to the brake pedal ... 

and I added an on/off switch in the trunk -- just because I wanted one.

Next step? ... install the towing baseplate which ought to be here by this time next week.

More fun times to keep Mikee busy when not enjoying summer drives and visits by those grandkids.