Let’s Roll - 18 and a wake-up!

Well, here we are again! Just when you thought Mikee had abandoned the Maineiacs in Motion blog site - it arises from the ashes!

As I sit here contemplating my next sentence - the sky is grey, it’s the week before Christmas 2021, and our first shovelable snow is forecast for this afternoon/evening. Peggy and I are doing fine … except for our daily “issues” that come with maturity. We are looking forward to a  joyful Christmas celebration with our Maine family and then a post New Year celebration with our NJ family. Along with the rest of the world, we continue to follow the ever changing Covid saga through its various variants and case surges. In spite of all that craziness we are planning to head south for a few months starting around the 6th of January … armed with our common sense and our triple vaccinations … hopefully that will suffice!

So the process begins! I woke up Winne yesterday, drove her over to get topped off with propane and diesel fuel, and then got her parked in the driveway to start the prep and loading. We have 18 days and a wake-up before our planned leave date so we should have plenty of time to get done what needs to be done - in between cleaning up from the inevitable snow storms.

Our travel plan is to spend our first night dry camping at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut and then head to NJ for a few days visit with the NJ Evringhams. Since it still won’t be warm enough in NJ - we will continue south along I-81 through Virginia, North Carolina, and then to Gaffney, SC where we have scheduled a day of motorhome service at the Freightliner Custom Coach Factory Service Center. 

With that chore complete we plan on heading east and a bit more south to settle in Savannah, GA for a few weeks and then an even smaller bit south to Brunswick, GA for a few more weeks. After wearing out our welcome in Georgia we plan on scooting east to one of our favorite haunts near Fairhope, Alabama for some visits with friends, some yummy gulf shrimp, and perhaps a walk or two on the sugar sand beaches near Gulf Shores. After a few weeks in ‘Bama we plan on backtracking east and even further south into central Florida for several more weeks.

Sometime about then I suspect we will be ready to wander home - so we will!

As you can probably tell … I’m ready to get these Maineiacs Back in Motion!

But between now and then we have preps to make, Christmas to celebrate, and a few more motorcycle restoration projects to finish. 

The Yamaha RD350 engine is ready to go, some assorted parts have been cleaned and ready for reinstallation in the spring, now the gas tank needs to be cleaned and sealed before we leave.

Time to get busy … Let’s Roll!

Motorhome Maintenance Madness

Well here we sit … October 3, 2021. Another lovely Maine summer is behind us as we look forward to autumn in New England. 

 Since I had a few maintenance chores to take care of on Winne I decided to devote pretty much all of September to getting her back into “travel shape.” Item #1 was to investigate and solve a soft spot in the floor back in the bedroom area. I noticed this soft spot on our last trip and really wasn’t sure what was causing it. The spot was next to the bed on the drivers side in an area you don’t normally walk … but it was quite noticeable if you knew where to step. The problem became very apparent once I removed a few of the vinyl floor tiles and saw a pretty large (6 inch diameter or so) water damaged spot in the plywood floor which was in the process of rotting away! Well that ain’t good I says! 

At first I thought water may have leaked in from a window above the spot … but that made little sense since the wall showed no signs of any problem? Then I thought maybe the water was coming up from underneath. That area of the floor is outboard of the engine area and consists of 1 ¼ in. of plywood with a thin metal backing glued to the bottom. I could access the bottom side and did notice some corrosion of the metal backing but nothing “major” that I thought would lead to the problem. Then I thought about the water heater which is located just behind the damaged area. Maybe it was leaking? After spending several hours checking that out I determined that the water heater itself was not the culprit. But during that investigation I did notice that the outside metal enclosure that seals the external side of the water heater to the side of the motorhome wall was missing a very tiny screw leaving a 1/8” hole in a spot that leads directly to the floor area inside! Since this enclosure area is generally open to the outside world it is easy for rainwater to get inside and then run through this hole. Fixing that problem was relatively easy … replace the screw and seal up the area with some sealant. But that still left the soft spot to repair. 

 It took me several days of demo, engineering, re-engineering, metal fabrication, and carpentry … but after cutting a 1 foot by 3 foot section of flooring out to make sure I removed any semblance of rot, adding in a couple of metal braces to support the new flooring I needed to install, installing and sealing a new metal protective layer, and then replacing the plywood floor and tiles .. the floor was now just like new … probably stronger than new in that area … and hopefully it will stay dry now! With that project complete it was time to move on to the dash ventilation blower repair. 

 The dash area heater/ventilation system has a blower system with 4 speeds controlled by a dash mounted switch. Well … ours did until a couple of years ago when I lost all but high speed on the blower. I knew that the problem was a bad resistor module that needed to be replaced. Unfortunately … almost all of the dash has to disassembled and removed to access the resistor module. So I removed the 30-40 screws necessary to remove the necessary panels and I replaced the resistor module a few years ago. But alas … all I gained was one additional blower speed and I really didn’t have time to troubleshoot further as we needed to get back on the road again.

 So it was time to try again … Out came all those screws again followed by all the dash panels … but here is where I got lucky … I think! When I went to remove the wiring plug from the resistor module I found it was sorta loose. After plugging it back in securely and testing the blower … voila … all 4 blower speeds worked! So … back went the panels and the 30-40 screws and the blower still worked correctly. Yippee! So … now on to the next planned repair …right? 

Nope. The first step of the next repair involved bringing in Winne’s slide outs which had been moved out for the previous work. Start the engine … push the slide-out retract button … nothing … no movement … no sound! Oops … new problem. 

After mentally going through all the steps necessary for the slide-outs to move … and thinking about the work I had just done on the floor and the dash blower I concluded that one of those 30-40 screws must have shorted a wire on re-installation and immediately I had 3 particular screws as suspects. Sure enough … one of those screws wasn’t quite where it was supposed to be and a wire underneath got shorted. Once that little problem was fixed all was good once again and I was on to fighting rust! 

 First let me explain that motorhomes are not built like automobiles. A motorhome is “built” by a specialty manufacturer (in our case Winnebago Industries in Forest City, IA) on a chassis manufactured by another specialty manufacturer (in our case Freightliner Custom Chassis in Gaffney, SC). Where today’s automobiles are dipped in special rustproofing protective coatings, neither of these RV specialty manufacturers are really all that concerned that the future owner might drive one of these things in the cold snowy states where salt, sand, and brine might be deployed for safety sake. Therefore there are plenty of spots on the undercarriage where the minimal original paint will be eroded off in no time and rust will begin to rear its ugly head! 

 And so it is with Winne. Another September week was spent scraping rust, chemically neutralizing rust, repairing rust damage, and repainting treated areas to slow down future rust. It is a true axiom that in the RV world .. Rust never sleeps! 

 One of the areas needing specific rust attention are the two battery storage compartments. Since I had to remove the 4 large “Coach” Batteries to do part of this work, and since these batteries are 6+ years old and showing signs that they are starting to lose capacity … I decided to take this opportunity to replace them. The only extra effort this took was carrying the bucket of money to the battery store! 

 So that was September. Winne is now back in her storage spot all ready to be awoken in January for her dash south and we are moving on to October. Time for leaf peeping, leaf picking up, leaf dumping, and annual vehicle oil changes. 

 I love New England.

Who needs a plan?!

 I’ll bet you thought I had given up on this blog since I sorta abandoned it during our spring trip earlier this year. And I did. Since I tend to make a Facebook posting periodically during our trips it just seems duplicative … and it is.

But once in awhile I suppose I’ll make an entry here just to keep you on your toes.

We have been normal summertime busy here since we returned around the end of June. Summertime is always busy in Maine since it is so short and we have lots of projects waiting for summertime to accomplish, lots of visiting to do, and plenty of summertime things to do. We accomplished the first few gotta do chores during June/July … get Winne cleaned up and back in storage, get the summer toys (motorcycles and the Chevelle) out of storage, tinker with the toys to get them back into running condition, get summertime house projects completed (new roof this year), and get through Evringham family birthday season (Aiden, Stacy, Me, Nicky, Kaj, Eric, Brian).

Now we have moved right in to late summer projects like re-stain the shed and go to a few motorcycle/car shows. 

It won’t be long before the  pre-autumn chores will begin … like accomplish a few pre-travel Winne repairs/upgrades, and get in a few last minute summertime projects before the leaves start to fall.

This time of year also starts the winter travel process. Since we do not really have a set spot to spend each winter when we run away … we tend to start our planning process very late as compared to most snowbirds. Those folks have their winter travel plans set before the last snowflake leaves the north country. Those folks are smarter than us!

As you may have heard … RV travel and the RV lifestyle took a big jump in popularity during the last year and a half during the pandemic. Although this trend may be temporary … it is still real and has made RV trip planning more challenging … especially for us that like “just-in-time” planning!

In spite of all the news, fake news, and other hubbub going around regarding the Coronavirus Varients X, Y, and Z … we are still planning a trip south this winter. As usual, we hope to be leaving shortly after Christmas during a break in the weather. 

We plan on spending a few days in New Jerzee catching up with the NJ Gang and then heading further south to find some short pants weather. This year I think we will plan on heading down I-81 again and then over to near Charlotte, NC to visit the Freightliner Service Center in Gaffney, SC to get any needed Winne service accomplished. 

I’m not exactly sure what service we will need since we were just there in May … but if I don’t get it done earlier - I do have some new Koni Shock Absorbers waiting to be installed!

From Gaffney I think we will head over to the Savannah, GA area for about a week then down a bit further to Brunswick, GA for a couple more weeks. We both like that area and haven’t visited for many years so we thought that might be fun.

Then we thought we would head west to visit the Rainbow Plantation in Lower Alabama for a few weeks. I’m sure we can find some Gulf shrimp to eat, a few friends to laugh with, and maybe even some Mardi Gras activities!

By the time Fat Tuesday rolls around it will be March and time to start thinking about heading home … but not before heading over to central Florida for a few weeks to really warm up before pointing Winne back north.

We have managed to reserve enough spots to stay in these locations to start filling in the blanks … and there is always Wal-Marts, Truck Stops, and Casinos along the way. Who needs a plan!

Catching Up

OK … Way behind on catching you up on our doings so here goes …

We are presently in Crossville, TN and have been for a few days … just visiting our friends Darrell and Judy Patterson and enjoying springtime in middle Tennessee … which means some nice weather followed by a thunderstorm or two and then immediately replaced by some nice weather. But I need to get you caught up!

We left the Freightliner Service Center parking lot last Saturday drove back north to Asheville and then headed west on I40 over the mountains to Knoxville, TN and then a bit southeast to Walland, TN near the southern entrance to the Smokey Mountain National Park. Winne ran great during the trip over the mountains so I guess she enjoyed all the attention she received at the Freightliner shop! We did have one little issue though … when we needed our windshield wipers while driving through the mountains west of Asheville and they quit working! Yikes! We survived but it made for interesting few miles to say the least!

We spent 4 nights in Walland and spent our days visiting with friends Gene and Judi Curp who live nearby in Maryville, TN, seeing some sights nearby, and oh yeah — fixing the windshield wipers! (Just needed to tighten a loose nut). It was great seeing the Curp’s again, catching up a little on our lives, and enjoying the mountain scapes there on “The Quiet Side of the Smokies.”

We left Walland on Wednesday and made the relatively short trip west along I-40 to here in Crossville. Our plan is to enjoy another day of visiting with the Pattersons today and then head further west tomorrow.

After a few days of travel we hope to find ourselves in Branson, Mo. in the heart of the Ozark Mountains. I’ll bet we can find something to keep us entertained for a few days there!

Blue Ridge and BBQ

 Today we will complete our week stay here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina.We have been staying in a very small RV Park about 10 miles southwest of Asheville ... located in a small valley not far from the Blue Ridge Parkway. The weather has been quite nice during our stay with mostly sunny skies ... highs in the low 80s and nighttime temps around 60 degrees. Good daytime tourist weather and comfortable sleeping temps - can’t beat it!

The Blue Ridge Mountains here in North Carolina are quite stunning ... gorgeous views everywhere - especially from up on the Parkway! Peggy and I have spent our time enjoying the weather, enjoying the views, checking out the Asheville- Waynesville - Cherokee areas ... and even trying some local Carolina BBQ! Our first BBQ was in Asheville at a spot that has been a local favorite for decades named “Little Pigs.” Peggy and I both had a lunch platter with the typical fare ... pulled smoked pork, hush puppies, slaw, potato salad and baked beans. I added a small helping of BBQ ribs to my platter. We both enjoyed the fare at Little Pigs but it didn’t rise to one of the top ten places we’ve sampled. We decided to try another Asheville BBQ spot this evening - Luella’s. Now Luella’s was another story! We tried some sliced smoked brisket with a spicy dry rub and some dry rubbed smoked ribs. Both meats were fantastic with no sauce at all and even better with just a bit of one of several sauces. I have added Luella’s to among my top 3 BBQ spots. As for Peggy? She seemed to enjoy her meal but you will have to ask her for her own review. And oh Bye-The-Way ... I have learned that you can’t order anything down here without getting Hush Puppies ... and I really don’t care for Hush Puppies ... where is Terry Guiler when I need someone to take my Hush Puppies!

With our planned time here in the Blue Ridge used up ... it is time to move on. Our next stop is a bit further south to northern South Carolina to visit the Freightliner Factory Service Center and get some planned preventative maintenance items accomplished at Winne’s Chassis birthplace. It looks like we may also get to experience a southeastern US heatwave with temps climbing into the 90s for a few days.

Everyday is an adventure with these Maineiacs in Motion!

Jerzee!

 Well here we are ... one week in on our 2021 Springtime getaway. We have been hanging out in “southern” New Jersey ... more specifically in Absecon, NJ ... a few miles west of Atlantic City ... a few miles east of Stockton University, home of the fighting Ospreys ... and about 30 miles east of Sicklerville, NJ, home of the New Jersey Evringham Clan.

Our granddaughter Alyssa graduated from Stockton last Tuesday with a degree in Marine Science ... so that was pretty exciting!

She even found time to tour her grandparents around nearby historic Smithville. I can’t say we saw a lot of “history” ... but we did visit a lot  of CLSs (that’s Cute Little Shops for you unfamiliar with the Acronyms of Miss Judy Patterson!). After buying plenty of Cute Little Things from the CLSs ... Miss Alyssa took us for a side trip to the Stockton University Marine Field Lab Site where we met Steve the Field Lab Manager and even got a quick tour of the Stockton University Research Vessel RV Petrel complete with explanations of the underwater ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) and the SSS (Side Scan Sonar). Fun times on a beautiful spring day here on “the shore.”

Today is granddaughter Emily’s 17th Birthday ... so we will assist in celebrating that at some “Escape Room” here nearby and then dinner out at some Japanese Hibachi Style cookery! So wish us luck on that adventure ... hopefully we escape with all participants and in plenty of time for dinner.

The trip is going fine so far with only one semi major hiccup when I had to replace the evaporator fan motor on our refrigerator a couple of days ago! Fortunately I was able to source the needed part in short order at a local appliance parts supply business and make the installation in about an hour ... after carefully studying the appropriate you tube video! And then there was/is an ongoing issue with some neck pain I am having — but we will survive that too I hope!

I guess I should also note that we are planning on heading further west and south starting tomorrow with our next waypoint scheduled to be near Asheville, NC on Wednesday. Yes — I am aware that that part of the country has been experiencing fuel shortages after a major distribution pipeline had to be shutdown last week ... and then the panic buying set in for a few days. But the pipeline is back up and running now and the fuel supplies are returning to normal so ...off into the abyss we will go!

In spite of all the reasons to turn back ... we will venture forth! After all ... look at the bright sides ... we are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 ... the feds tell us we can stop wearing masks ... someday soon all the states may agree that masks are not necessary ... the crisis at our southern border is “under control,” Israel will soon stop Hamas from firing rockets in their direction until the UN brokers a ceasefire thereby allowing Hamas to rearm and start again, the Democrat Socialists will soon piss-off everyone around them and will be pushed back into their caves ... so yeah ... things are looking up!

I told you kids that this mess is yours to fix ...

I’m off to the next adventure!

The Time Has Come

Welcome to May (almost)! If it’s May it must be time to load up Winne and hit the road. Yes indeed ... with only 8 And-A-Wake-Up days to go ... it is time! Winne’s pre-trip maintenance is pretty much complete, the pre-trip appointments are almost completed, the load list has been made, some items have been checked off, and the list has been made again. It is the same ‘ol story with the same “stuff” to deal with ... but yet it is always different and new ... especially when we haven’t been in travel mode for over a year! About the only thing different for this trip is we will need to take our face masks for those places still requiring them and our proof of Covid vaccinations just in case some storm troopers are turned loose along the way and road blocks get set up to check Picture IDs and other “papers” to allow US citizens to travel state-to-state. I jest ... but yet I want to be prepared!

Our plan is leave next Sunday and spend the night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. After some dry camping on the Reservation we will finish up our trek to NJ ... with a different for us stopping point near Atlantic City where we will spend a week while visiting the NJ Evringham clan and congratulating our newest college grad. Our granddaughter Alyssa is graduating from Stockton University with a degree in Marine Science!

After seeing all we wish to see in the Garden State we will be continuing our trip south - around Baltimore west to I-81 and then south again to the mountains of North Carolina - near Asheville. We plan on just relaxing and exploring a bit in the Asheville area for about a week before taking a side trip to Gaffney, SC to visit the Freightliner Custom Chassis Factory Service Center. There are a few maintenance items I would like done on Winne that I just don’t want to do and don’t trust just any Freightliner Service Center to do. So while we are “in the area” why not let the factory techs do it right the first time (I hope)!

After a few days in Gaffney we plan on heading over to “the quiet side” of the Smokey Mountains near Maryville, TN for another week stay of relaxing and exploring ... with maybe a wild party thrown in to visit our good friends Gene and Judy Curp!

After wearing out our welcome in Eastern Tennessee we thought we might meander our way over to Branson, MO. We haven’t visited Branson since 2007 and we really enjoyed our visit then ... so why not?! I hear they are open for business and have some great new shows to see!

After a week in Branson I think it will be time to point Winne northeast and make our way home ... somewhere around the end of June ... just in time to enjoy summah in Maine which always means lobstah, sunshine, and birthdays!

I am looking forward to it all!

Bingo!

 In spite of the wintry mix of rain and snow falling at the moment ... it really is “spring” here in Maine. We have had several 60+ degree days in the past few weeks, the daffodils are sprouting and the trees are at least showing some buds. That counts as spring for us ... like I said ... in spite of the sn*w falling here on this 16th day of April!

We enjoyed our visit with most of the New Jersey Evringham Gang last week and we will be visiting with them again in a few weeks when we head down there to help celebrate granddaughter Alyssa’s college graduation. The weather was nice enough for Brian and I to get out for a short ride on my two recently restored Honda Superhawks and we also got to enjoy an outdoor cookout and Bball shootout over at Stacy and Kaj’s place in Richmond. As always ... it was fun watching our kids and grandkids enjoying the day and each other. We (at least us over 16 year olds) are vaccinated now so that stress has been lessened ... one more step back to finding the new normal.

I brought Winne home from storage a couple of weeks ago to get started on preparing her for travel. Since Brian was available to help me I took advantage of the situation and we removed and replaced one of Winne’s rear leveling jacks that has been leaking hydraulic fluid for some time. I purchased the new jack last fall and was hoping to have some local repair place do the work ... but my Plan A and Plan B repair places couldn’t do the work. The Plan A shop doesn’t open up from a winter/COVID restrictions break until May and the Plan B shop can’t seem to find workers willing to give up their “enhanced” unemployment benefits and come back to work. Apparently this is part of the new normal as well. Regardless ... Brian and I managed to wrestle the leaky jack out and get the new jack installed with nobody injured and only a few work clothes sacrificed to the rag bin.

I have accomplished a few other repair/maintenance items on Winne over the past week and have a few more to accomplish over the next few weeks and she should be ready to roll once again!

So here we sit ... 21 days and a wake up before Winne hopefully rolls south once again. If it sounds to you like I am ready ... BINGO!

On Being “Back” to “Normal”

Well spring is trying to sprung ... even here in the frozen northeastern US. Believe it or not ... all of our snow piles have melted away and we are into full mud season now .. and it’s not even April 1st! An early spring it is!

Although it was a tough winter for us ... mainly because we weren’t able to run south for some warmer weather and sunshine ... most folks up here would tell you it was a mild winter overall with less than normal snowfall. I suppose it was “mild” but still too cold ... for too long ... for me!

I was able to take advantage of the nicer weather to get my motorcycle projects completed earlier than I expected, so that was a bonus. Not only that but I have been able to get the “summer” stuff out of the shed and into their summer spots and the “winter” stuff into their storage spots so that the two Super Hawks could be put into their storage spots.

While I have been busy moving stuff around Peggy has been doing all sorts of spring cleaning inside. The New Jersey Gang is trying to get up here for a visit next week - so that was one incentive ... but we also hope to leave here ourselves in just under 40 and A-Wake-Up. 

Since Winne hasn’t moved much at all in the last year that means I have a lot of maintenance checks and a few repairs I need to get accomplished before we are ready to be on-the-road-again. So today’s focus will be waking up Winne and getting her home to her driveway spot so the tinkering can begin.

I am looking forward to traveling once again ... but I wonder how “normal” it will be? It has been just over a year since we arrived home from our last trip at the peak of uncertainty regarding the Covid 19 virus. We managed to survive this last year wearing our protective masks, washing our hands frequently, and maintaining our social distance as much as we felt was responsible. We limited our contact with others outside our household and suffered watching politicians outdo each other trying to shame us, encourage us, and lie to us to save us from ourselves. We became vaccinated as soon as possible. So now what?

Who knows what the future has to offer? I know this ... I am not in total control of my destiny and I can only do what I think makes sense while weighing the risks of living with the rewards of enjoying life. 

When you think about it ... that sounds pretty “normal.” I guess I really never left.

Think Spring

 Well it may not be spring yet ... but I am more than ready.

A couple of weeks ago we had a few days of above freezing weather so I took advantage and hoisted the repaired engine/transmission for my 1966 Honda Super Hawk out of the basement and managed to get it installed in the cleaned up frame. Fortunately the decent weather lasted long enough for me to complete the reassembly project and at least get it running before the frigid weather returned.

We have had a couple more days of poor sledding weather so I decided to move forward and get going on finishing up Super Hawk #1. I retrieved the engine from the basement on Tuesday - the rolling frame came up and out on Wednesday - and the reassembly was completed this morning with another successful firing up of the engine!

So now these projects get to sit and wait for real spring to arrive for proper test rides and any necessary adjustments.

In and around tinkering on my motorcycle restoration projects I also managed to receive my two doses of Covid vaccine and Peggy is scheduled to complete hers next week.

With our vaccinations complete and hopeful for seeing our country start retuning to closer to normal soon - we have started to schedule our first motorhome trip in over a year. Granddaughter Alyssa will be graduating from College in mid-May so we plan on heading to NJ for that. 

Then we are thinking of heading to the mountains of North Carolina for a week or so ... and then perhaps into eastern Tennessee for a few more weeks before heading back home around the first of Julyish.

Not that I’m looking forward to it or anything ...

Think Spring!

Just Pondering (for now)

 Okay friends - Mikee needs some help. As I sit here in the cold cold grip of winter in the frozen northeastern United States I find myself pondering ...

I know how I got here ... the job I wanted when I was 30 years old was here. I even know why I have lived here for 40+ years ... Maine is a wonderful place 6 months out of 12! 

Probably the main reason we are still here is that 2 out of 3 of our kids live here with 3 out of 7 of our grandkids! Well, that and the thought of all the hassle involved with moving anywhere!

But as we age we do keep thinking more and more about thinning out a lot of our “stuff” and simplifying our lives. As long as we need to thin out our “stuff” anyway ... why not really thin out our stuff by moving!?

And if we decide to move ... why not move somewhere where the weather is more tolerable for a longer period of time!

Don’t go all crazy on me kids ... I’m not planning on putting the house up for sale anytime in the next few weeks ... just thinking with my fingers here!

So that’s where I need the help. Peggy and I have been to lots of areas of lots of states over the past 15 or so years and have plenty of places that we liked ... but then we tend to visit those places when the local weather is at it’s best!

But where is the “perfect” place ???

Warm is better than cold ... but we don’t mind a FEW weeks of winter and a LITTLE snow.

Dry is better than humid ... but then even Maine gets a bit “humid” for a few weeks in the summer. On the other hand ... I’ve lived in Hawaii and been to Mississippi in the summer and didn’t care for it all that much!

Trees are better than Cactus. I like the desert southwest ... but not for months on end in the summer.

An ocean nearby would be nice but plenty of lakes and rivers would suffice.

I really don’t want to have to deal with annual tornadoes so “Tornado Alley” won’t do at all.

The Left Coast is out ... nuff said!

So whaddaya think? Where is the perfect place?

Parts Are On Order

Well here I sit. It is 0 degrees outside this morning ... up from a low of minus 1 or so ... still surviving winter in Maine ... and still not enjoying it! It doesn’t help that my Facebook “newsfeed” reminds me every day of someplace much warmer that I was enjoying grilled shrimp or great BBQ ... on this date 1 or 3 or whatever years ago!

The good news?it is going to warm up tomorrow so we can receive a big nor’easter with a bunch of snow ... yippee? But I’m not going to whine ... nope .. not me!

So what’s new? Well, we are both as healthy as can be expected for a couple of 70 year olds not getting enough exercise, hunkering down in the frozen north country. We have both managed to avoid the Coronavirus to this point ... I received my first dose of the vaccine last week and am scheduled for my second dose in a few more weeks. Peggy? Well that’s a another story. 

I have spent many hours over the past month cleaning, inspecting, and repairing parts on my Honda Superhawk II project, including moving the engine to the basement, disassembling the engine, repairing the kickstarter mechanism, and reassembling. Once it warms up enough outside I’ll finish getting the frame cleaned up and re-introduce the engine to the frame ... whenever “warm enough” returns to Maine!

I have also spent some time helping out my lobsterman friend Bill work on one of his many collector cars. Bill has built a very nice and large workshop/storage area/display area near his home in Harpswell, ME ... complete with heat! Bill has about 20 or so cars in his collection. Most of his cars are 1930 something Streetrods in varying levels of “modification.” A few years ago I helped him with a few “upgrades” on one of my favorites in his collection ... a 1937 Ford Coupe. One of the modifications we added was the installation of a new digital dash with all modern gages ... but with a retro look. Bill also decided that he wanted this car to have a modern radio system ... and of course it needed to have a modern GPS navigation system ... and a backup camera just like all the new cars! Back when I helped install that digital dash I recommended against it since it required cutting up a perfectly good original 1937 Ford dash. But Bill insisted ... so we did. Installing this “infotainment” system in a Bonny and Clyde era Ford seemed like further sacrilege ... but Bill insisted ... so the dash got cut some more! It was no easy chore but I managed to get the radio to fit in the dash and got the GPS system, Backup Camera, and radio to work pretty well without cutting any more holes in the original car exterior! Of course, just about the time I was announcing success Mr. Bill decided he wanted to replace the steering column as well. “What the heck” says I, it’s your car, your money, and your vision ... and apparently I have nothing better to do! 

Parts are on order. Pictures to follow.