History

As predicted - the rain moved in just about the time the 2nd Annual State O' Maine July-August Great Birthday Bash BBQ was set to begin so we quickly moved to plan B. While Mikee managed to keep the ribs, burgers, and dogs from burning on the BBQ out in the rain - Nicky and Peggy set up a pretty efficient buffet line in the kitchen - the extension leaves went in the dining room table and viola ... the party moved in-doors. It's too bad the weather didn't cooperate but I think a good visit was had by all. Brian and the Gang made it back to NJ yesterday and things quickly returned to "normal" around here ... but boy did it get quiet all of a sudden! Grandkids are great!! We can't wait until our next visit.


We were pretty negligent in taking pictures while the NJ gang was here but I did manage to get one that Brian took at the beach earlier in the week so I'm posting that one along with one Stacy put on my computer of her and Kaj at Niagara Falls a few weeks ago and one of Eric and Jen at Wolfe Neck State Park they took yesterday. They don't know that I took it from Jen's Facebook page ... but then that will teach them to let me on Facebook and then to let me be their "friend."

















As most of you know - I have been interested in "history" for some time and have been dabbling in genealogy for the last couple of years. My latest genealogy project has been to research my ancestors on my mother's side - and more particularly - on her mother's side - the Ricci family of El Dorado, California. As it turns out - the Riccis go back to the 1848-1850 Gold Rush days in central California. Most of my research was done on the internet and I was able to find a great amount of information from searchable on-line newspaper sources and from an on-line version of a history book about the early days in El Dorado County that was published in the 1880's. I also came across a reference to a book titled "Along the Georgetown Divide" by Georgia Gardner. Since the book referenced the Ricci Family I really wanted to read it and I was able to find a used copy on Amazon.com ... so I ordered it and received it the other day. The book is really closer to a booklet, amatuerishly published and bound - and consists of 50 very short stories about the history of a relatively small area of the California foothills where gold was discovered in 1849 and the California Gold Rush began. The stories were written (by hand originally) by a then 87 year old woman (in 1993) who had lived in the area all her life, who herself was an amateur historian, and who was encouraged by others to put her memories on paper. The stories are a fantastic window into how life really was in the days of the Gold Rush and the 100 years or so that followed. My only point in sharing this here is to encourage anybody who reads this, especially my own kids, to learn what they can - when they can - about history. It's clear to me now (it certainly wasn't when I was going to school or even when I was their age) that you simply can not fully understand the world around you unless you know how you got there.

The Way Life Should Be

Finally - some summertime weather has arrived in Maine. We have now had several days in a row with a decent amount of sunshine and some relatively warm temperatures. It has been a bit humid and we have had some thundershowers in the evening on a couple of days - but then that is pretty normal for Maine in July/August. The decent weather has been even more enjoyable for us since our son Brian and his family are up visiting this week from New Jersey and we have been able to get outside, go to the beach, play in the sprinkler (well Alyssa and Emily did anyway), play a little golf, and just sit outside on the deck and visit. Now that's more like the Maine Greeting - "the way life should be."

Today we have a birthday bash celebration BBQ planned for all the July and August birthday people with lots of folks scheduled to come over - so of course thundershowers are forecast for this afternoon/evening. Hopefully any rain will hold off until after we are done - but if not - we'll cook outside in the rain anyway and everybody can enjoy each other's company inside. We don't get together as a family often enough so we certainly won't let a bit of rain spoil our party!

The NJ Evringhams are heading home on Saturday and VBS starts on Monday so Peggy can catch her breath on Saturday, spend Sunday with her last minute VBS preps, and then get to have her VBS fun all week. Meanwhile, I will finish up a few projects around the house, babysit the installer(s) when we get our new bedroom windows next week, and start getting the motorhome ready for our short New York / New England Mini-Excursion planned for the last couple weeks of August.

I think I better take a nap now - I may not get another chance for a month or so!

Pondering the Republic of Texas

I've been reminded several times over the last week that Southern Texas is in the worse drought in 50 years. I really feel sorry for the folks and critters down there that rely on water for their well being - but I know where their water is! It's up here in Maine!! Now, if I could only figure out a way to easily transport it down to you Texans ... I'll start working on that right away.


Speaking of Texas ... I heard on TV the other day that the Governor of Texas has threatened to refuse to accept the national health insurance plan presently being discussed in Congress. It seems he has read the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution and believes that individual states have some sovereignty when it comes to certain actions taken (or threatened to be taken) by the federal governement that are not granted to the feds in the Constitution. You may remember that the first 10 Amendments to the Contitution are known as "the Bill of Rights." We often hear about many of the issues covered in the Bill of Rights - like "freedon of speech," and the "right to bear arms" ... but I think we are going to be hearing more about the 10th Amendment. Google it - Read it - Ponder it!

Now that I'm back from my trip down Libertarian Lane ...

Along with the return of the rainy/yucky weather to Maine - the good news is we also got a visit yesterday from the NJ Evringhams - Brian, Nicky, Alyssa, and Emily. They plan on being up here for a week so we hope to enjoy their company and get out and do some fun things while they are here - in spite any weather issues that may try to spoil their visit!

When we aren't visiting and playing with grandkids this week I hope to get some more preps completed for my future sealing of the driveway and maybe even start doing a few preparations for hitting the road again in a couple of weeks. Although the motorhome was pretty well ready to go when I put it in storage a few months ago - there are always things that need to be checked and readied before we head out.

It's time for the Maineiacs to be back in Motion ... and Texas is looking better and better.

Working Away in Vacationland

It has been a busy week here in Vacationland although it has been mostly more of the same.

I kept busy completing my re-wiring project in the basement and have moved on to re-wiring the garage. The basement project had three concurrent goals. The first goal was to decrease the load on a few circuits by adding some new circuits to a basement subpanel I had installed a number of years ago. At the same time - I decided I might as well upgrade some of the original wiring from the old original 2-wire "ungrounded" system to a safer 3-wire grounded system. Finally - I thought it would be a good idea to install all exposed wiring below the ceiling level in the unfinished portion of the basement in conduit. The garage project is kind-of the same. Mostly I wanted to install all the existing wiring in conduit (easier said than done) - but I also decided to split out the load into several separately breakered circuits. When I'm all done I think the system will be safer and much closer to today's electrical code. This is another one of those projects that started off on a much lower scale and soon ballooned to a several day and several trips to Home Depot project. But then again - if it's worth doing - it's worth doing well! (Even if it involves doing some of it for the second time!!).

Miss Peggy has entered the final phase of her VBS preparations. She is starting to gather all her supplies for each the five days. She gets real focused when she hits this phase - so it's a good thing I am staying busy and keeping out of her hair!

We managed to fit in a small birthday celebration yesterday since Mikee finished up his 59th year and is now counting down to the big Six Oh. Thanks to all for the good birthday wishes!

So besides completing some more home projects and preparing for VBS - we are looking forward to having Brian and the gang here next week and then we start getting ready to hit the road for a couple of weeks. No time to rest - summer only lasts so long here in Vacationland!!

Birthday Season

The middle of July to early August is Birthday Season at the Evringham's. Stacy starts the season with her birthday on the 13th of July. Peggy swears that July 13, 1982 was the only really hot day that year (and yes - it was a Friday). So Stacy turned 27 years young yesterday and we celebrated by having her, her "friend" Kaj, his two children Bailey and Kayla, and Eric and Jen over for a BBQ followed by cupcakes and ice cream. Mix in a few games of "Cornhole" or whatever you call the game where you throw bean bags into a hole in a board 50 or so feet away - and a good time was had by all. Next week Mikee will have his birthday on the 19th and then Nicky finishes out the month with her day on the 29th. Then Eric starts out August being born on the 4th and Brian finishes out the season with his birthday on the 9th. Whew - that's a lot of birthdays in a short period of time. Since Brian, Nicky, Alyssa, and Emily plan on visiting here during the last week in July - we think a combined birthday bash may be in order - sounds like a plan! Of course my birthday post wouldn't be complete without including our friend Darrell Patterson who turns "Golden Pass" age today and is probably on his way to the Saratoga Battlefield National Park right now to pick up his free America the Beautiful - Senior Pass. Only 3 more years and I can get mine too. Unless, of course, the Feds decide to do away with that freebie to help pay off some of our National Debt before I get there.

Except for the birthday doings yesterday it has been pretty quiet here at the Evringham Summer Home (at least for 2009 anyway). I have been moving forward on my various house projects and Peggy has kept busy working on her VBS preps and harassing me when she feels the need arise. We did have a pleasant surprise a few days ago when long time family friends - Reed and Sandy Kimzey - called to let us know they were here in Maine staying in their motorhome up around Long Lake where their son Kevin has a summer camp. Since they were traveling to Freeport to visit L.L. Bean (and several of the other outlet stores) we met up with them and their son's family for a nice visit and dinner. The last time we saw the Kimzey's was when they camped out with us at the Quiring Bed and Breakfast and RV Resort in Yreka, CA back in the summer of 2007. The Kimzey's have their Stix and Brix home in El Paso, TX - so who knows - maybe we'll drive through and say howdy some day.

Hope everybody has a great day!

Crazy

After a couple more days of rain the sun has reappeared. I wonder if this is going to be the pattern all summer? Rain for two days - sunny for a day and a half! Since the weather has not been cooperating - I have concentrated on my "inside" basement re-wiring project which is almost done. With the sun out today I guess I can move back to my driveway project and do some more patch work in preparation for the final sealing.



Peggy and I did have a nice break from our routine here on Tuesday when we went to the Maine State Music Theater in Brunswick at Bowdoin College and saw "Crazy For You." Crazy For You is a musical comedy based on Gershwin's "Girl Crazy" from the 1930s. The play had lots of old Gershwin tunes that us old folks recognized - "Someone To Watch Over Me," Embraceable You," "I Got Rhythm," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "Nice Work If You Can Get It." The Maine State Music Theater puts on about four different shows each summer. Peggy has been to more shows than I have over the years, this was only my second, but I found it to be a very entertaining 2 and a half hours. Broadway quality entertainment right here in Mid-Coast Maine - "who could ask for anything more?"



Well - I could ask for more! Since we were out anyway and sorta dressed up for the "theater" - we decided to drive over to our favorite seafood restaurant - Captain Mikes - for some broiled scallops and lobster pie. All-In-All a great day in spite of some rain.

Overtime!

Finally - some sunshine! Yesterday was a pretty nice day complete with mostly sunny skies and 70 degree temperatures and today looks to be mostly the same. It looks as if the weather pattern that parked a low pressure area right over us and kept recycling rain for 2 weeks has finally broken and maybe we can move on to summer!

I have been working on re-engineering and re-wiring several of the circuits in the house over the past week while waiting for the outside weather to improve. Why would you be doing this? - you ask. First a little background. This house was built right around 1960 with the then standard 100 Amp electric service fuse panel. Over the past 29 years we have owned the house I have "re-modeled" a few things including finishing a portion of the basement, adding several lights and outlets here and there and "powering" the garage. Since these tasks were performed piecemeal over many years - the electrical circuits are not what you call "well designed" when the electrical system as a whole is considered. In addition - I really need to upgrade the electric service to a modern 200 Amp service. So in preparation for having that done in the future - I decided that much of the work I did in the past needed to be redone/re-engineered including adding a new subpanel in the garage and re-arranging the basement circuits. I'm not sure how I get myself into these situations. One minute I'm lazing around in my early semi-retirement mode and the next I have the basement torn apart and I'm working 8 or more hours a day on "projects." Yesterday it was past quiting time when I finally knocked off for the day. What's this - unpaid overtime! This has got to stop!

It is really too bad my electrician brother-in-law Ernie lives way out in California. If he lived closer I'm sure with his help we could have this done in no time. Actually - if he lived closer I probably would have never got to this point in the first place!

Time to get to work ...

Dodging Raindrops - Again

I guess I got a little too excited too soon with last week's entry on "Sunshine." Although I did manage to get the cracks filled in the driveway during the brief dry spell - it has been been rainy/wet at some point every day since about last Saturday. Worse yet the forecast doesn't look like much will change until perhaps after this upcoming weekend! I read somewhere that this has been the 5th wettest June in southern Maine since they started keeping records. I believe it. Although July isn't starting off much better - I've got my fingers crossed in hopes of some nice summer weather before the leaves start to fall.

The new wireless internet system is working pretty good. I have found that although the speed is a bit better than what we had with cable - the consistency of the speed and quality of the connection is more variable. I have a relatively good and consistent wireless signal between home and the cell phone tower but it appears to me that the usage on the system overall has a lot to do with the quality/speed of my connection to the internet. Even with the variability in the connection - I'm satisfied overall and have gone ahead and cancelled my cable internet service. If it ever dries out around here I'll have to get the external antenna mounted on the motorhome so we can try out the system on-the-road. I can see it now - Peggy surfing the net from the co-pilot chair while I navigate the byways of America. Our new moniker will be Maineiacs on Cyberspace in Motion.

In spite of the rainy weather Peggy and I continue to keep busy around here. Besides the normal stuff that just needs to be done around here and her normal Sunday School duties Peggy has been preparing for her Vacation Bible School teaching stint early in August. As for me ... my list of non-moveable house projects is never ending. Driveways to repair, tree limbs to trim, fences to mend, wiring to replace/remodel, house to paint ... the list goes on-and-on. I try to get a little done on the list each day but sometimes it doesn't look like I make much progress.

I think we both are getting the itch to get on-the-road again. We always enjoy our time at home and always look forward to getting home once we have been gone awhile - but we have also grown to enjoy our time as gypsies seeing what's around the next corner. We plan on getting out for a bit in mid August (after VBS is over) to wander around NY state for a few weeks seeing sights and then wandering back home along some path not yet determined. After that we will check the travel budget and see what's left for the remainder of the year. Can't keep in one place too long ya know.

Until next time - Think Sunshine!!

Sunshine!

WOW - Today we saw the sun! It managed to come out around 10 AM and it turned out to be a pretty nice and warm day. Since I have been waiting for a non-rainy day to accomplish some crack filling on the driveway - I spent several hours outside today accomplishing that task. Now - if the weather will cooperate for 24 hours or so the filler stuff can settle and dry so I can put on a second and final coat.

The FedEx man did arrive in the early afternoon today and brought my new cellular based wireless router and the outside antenna that I intend to mount on the motorhome. I managed to get the router powered up and working wirelessly with my laptop and networked by hardwire with our home desktop PC and networkable printer. So far everything is working the way it is supposed to and I have disconnected the cable modem and wireless router that we previously used.

Like I have said many times before - I love it when things work the way they are supposed to!

New Wireless Internet - Initial Test

Now I know what folks who live in Seattle must feel like. Days and days without seeing the sun and constant on-off rain/showers/drizzle. But I'm not complaining - not me! I understand we may get all the way up to partly cloudy by this time next week. We got a few hours of less-than-really-wet weather yesterday and I did manage to mow the lawn. Other than that - I have been sticking to inside projects for the last several days.

I received my first delivery from the 3G Store today. Actually the delivery was the USB760 Modem from Verizon that was ordered through the 3G Store. After opening the package and giving the operations/installation manual a quick once through - I plugged the device into a USB port on my laptop and it automatically loaded all the necessary software drivers and Verizon's VZAccess software. My first attempt to connect to Verizon's Broadband Network was unsuccessful - but a quick call to the Verizon folks helped me "activate" my account and I was in business. As I had expected - I am able to access Verizon's "best" wireless broadband system here at home (EVDO - Rev. A). One of the first things I did was run a speed test to compare with previous speed tests I have done using my tethered cell phone and Verizon's "NationalAccess" system and tests I have run using my present cable modem. Without going into all the numbers - the bottom line is that the new system is about 10 times faster than either the "National Access" system or our present cable modem (recognizing that we pay for the slowest speed available from the cable provider). So far I am pretty satisfied with new service. I should receive the new router tomorrow so we will get to see how the WiFi to Router to Wireless Broadband system works. Once I get the new system checked out and working well for a week or so -I'll go ahead and cancel the cable internet service.

In preparation for swapping to this new internet connection and cancelling the cable service - I set up a new email account on Google's GMAIL service. So anybody out there who wants to email me might as well start using mevringham@gmail.com. If you want to email Peggy you can continue to use mpevring@aol.com. I'm sure this will only take a year or so get straightened out! Isn't technology wonderful!?

Who'll Stop The Rain!!

OK - I get it! If I complain about the wet weather - it will get worse. No more complaining from me - JUST MAKE IT STOP!

I think it rained at least a couple of inches today and more is forecast for the weekend - although it is supposed to slow down to "showers."

Yesterday, before the rain started, I managed to chisel out about a 5 square foot section of my driveway and refill it with asphalt cold patch to repair a pretty significant pothole. After that - Stacy and Eric treated me to a fun round (9 holes) of golf as an early fathers day present. Needless to say I slept really well last night.

In spite of the constant rain today I did manage to accomplish a few small projects inside the house and I assisted Peggy with some grocery shopping. But the big accomplishment for today was actually getting the 3G Store to process my order for Wireless Broadband! It's hard to believe - but it took them 2 full weeks to be able to process an order - and it's still real unclear to me what the big hold-up was. Their website has been modified a bit but the basics of the online ordering process looks pretty much the same and their discounts on the equipment provided by them (the router and the antenna in my case) are the same as they were a couple of weeks ago. About the only thing I found changed was that the wireless modem gadget (supplied by Verizon)was free without the need for a mail in rebate where before you had to pay $50 up front and then send in a rebate application to get your money back - and the other thing - Verizon has waived the $35 activation fee. So I guess I did save the $35 and the rebate hassle with Verizon but still - 2 weeks!

But all that is passed now and I'm looking forward to receiving the equipment some time early next week and seeing how well it works.

Hope everybody is having a great day ... without rain (but I'm not complaining).

More of the Same

The more things change - the more they stay the same. Several days have past since my last entry - yet what has changed? Although the weather was pretty nice today - it has been raining, on-and-off for the past 2-3 days. Although 4 days have passed since my last entry - the 3G Store still isn't taking any Verizon orders !?! The latest email from them tells me it will be the "end of the week" before they will be ready. I've waited this long so I might as well wait till the end of the week - I can't wait to see what great improvements (and savings for me) will result from this 2 week delay. Arrgh - I dislike incompetence! I guess I like saving $$ more than I dislike incompetence.


Meanwhile - back in somewhat soggy Maine I did manage to complete the construction and installation of the TV shelf I described in the last entry. I think it came out looking pretty good! The final fit and finish looks very much like it was installed from the factory. While I was at it - and since the final (hopefully) change to Digital TV happened this last weekend - I installed the Digital TV Converter along with a video selector switch that I happened to have laying around so we can either use the rooftop antenna for watching DTV or we can select the other switch position to watch cable TV. Some DTV converters have this analog "pass-through" feature installed - but the ones that I purchased did not - so the switch performs that function. By the way - I am able to receive 10 DTV Channels now with the rig sitting in the driveway and the antenna in the down (stored) position. ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and UPN come in great. If I ever decide to give up the junk on cable - there is a lot on the air for free - and in digital quality. I'm sure there are folks out there living in fringe areas using antennas that have lost stations since the move to DTV but the signals and quality look pretty good here in the big metropolis of Topsham, ME.

Tomorrow the rig goes back into storage for a month or so. One of my next projects is to repair a couple of big "dents" in the asphalt driveway caused by parking the rig in one place too long without something under the front tires to help spread out the weight. After that I need to fill some long standing cracks in the driveway and do a complete re-sealing. Another one of those chores that us owners of "sticks and bricks" homes (as opposed to those living in their homes on wheels) have to deal with every few years - and mine is at least a few years overdue.

More Ramblings

I think it has rained, at least a little, every day since my last post. The grass is growing quite well but everything around us will start getting a bit moldy if we don't get some extended sunshine pretty soon! I did manage to make a few trips to the local solid waste facility on Tuesday, in spite of the rain, to get rid of all the limbs resulting from my logging activities last weekend. Although my little bit of tree cutting and limb maintenance did open things up a bit - I still want to go ahead with removal of all (or at least most) of the trees in our back yard. They really don't look that great, the big pine tree manages to drop pitch all over the deck and Peggy's swing, and I guess I'm just tired of looking at them! Unfortunately - those that remain are taller than I want to deal with and the pine tree is BIGGG. So that means I need to find a local arborist/tree maintenance guy that will do the work for less than the life of my first born son. Actually - if I could get my first born son to get his butt up here to climb/cut down the trees I wouldn't need the tree guys! For that matter the second born son could do the job!! Nope - on second thought I remember how upset Peggy got when they climbed the trees when they were youngsters and I doubt she would be any calmer today. Even worse - she would be madder at me than she would be at them! So it's back to the arborist plan ... I have been getting estimates this week.

Also on the list for getting estimates is replacement of the windows in the first floor bedrooms. They are the only original windows left in the house (except for the double pane picture windows) that we haven't replaced with modern, energy efficient, vinyl windows. Since the feds will be providing a tax credit this year for doing such upgrades, and since the price of heating oil isn't getting any lower - I think it will be in our best interest to get this upgrade done before winter. Based on the estimates I've gotten so far - I think the window suppliers have simply raised their prices so that the consumer does the paperwork and the window suppliers end up getting the $$ from the government.

You may remember from my last post that I was getting ready to order new wireless internet hardware and service. Well - I tried. I called the "3G Store" on Monday to place the order and was told that they "were updating their website and couldn't take any orders that would include Verizon Broadband activation." I guess it's just me - but I don't think I would put my business in a position that would prevent orders from being taken/filled - just because a website needed to be upgraded! I was told on Monday that they would be taking orders on Wednesday. I was sent an e-mail on Wednesday telling me that the work was still ongoing and that orders couldn't be filled until "next week." The good news (remains to be seen/realized) is that the cost for what I need is supposed to be lower when they do start taking orders. I'm really not in a big rush to get this done - but these guys are supposed to be the "best" when it comes to wireless broadband customer service. We're not off to a good start.

When we do finally get the new equipment it will need a place to "live" when installed in the motor home. I have decided that the bedroom area in the back will probably be the best place to put it since it will be out of the way and closer to where I plan on installing an outdoor antenna to improve the transmit/receive range. We already have a digital converter box for the bedroom TV back there and that's also were we keep our weather alert radio. I have been contemplating building a shelf under the back TV to house the converter/radio - so this seemed like the perfect time to accomplish this upgrade project. Yesterday I picked-up up a piece of oak and today I built the shelf and managed to get it stained pretty close to the shade of the oak cabinets that are already in the rig. Tomorrow I plan on getting the polyurethane on and should have this project behind me before the weekend is done.

Oh - I guess some of you (probably most of you) are wondering what Peggy has been up to! She has remained busy planning/preparing to teach VBS (Vacation Bible School) and is still working hard at her full time job - supervising me.

Ramblings

We made it back home on Friday after an uneventful drive from the Cape, around Boston on I-95, and up the coast to Maine. "Uneventful" is a relative term - it would be more accurate to say that I survived the crazy eastern Massachusetts drivers - in spite of their efforts to wreck every car on the highway. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate driving in MA?

Now that we are home again and have removed all the stuff from the rig that needs to be removed for now - it's time to put the rig back into storage for a couple of months. I had a couple of small maintenance items to take care of today (put the heat shield on the new starter and clean the LP Gas orifice on the refrigerator) and I'll see if I can get the rig washed tomorrow.

Yesterday I was putting things away - including the pole saw I took to NJ to help Brian trim some branches on his trees. Since the pole saw was out I decided to trim a few branches in the back yard. After I started on the first branch I decided that it was pretty thick and the chain saw would probably be a better tool in this case - so out came the chain saw. The good news was that the saw started up pretty easily - the bad news was that the chain was so dull it wouldn't cut a thing. So I swapped to my spare chain. Yup you guessed it - the "spare" was "spare" because it too was dull. At this point I could have 1) simply given up on tree trimming, 2) sharpened one or both of the chains, 3) gone back to using the pole saw, or 4) headed over to Sears to buy a new chain. After opting for door number 4 - the new sharp chain was on and the saw was running and that branch was cut in no time. Since the saw was running and sharp - I decided I might as well cut down a couple of trees that I have been threatening to cut down for several years - and then I might as well trim a bunch more branches that are keeping the sun from ever making to some areas of the back yard. After several hours of work I ended up with a small woodpile of hardwood for our neighbor, a large pile of trimmed branches, several sore muscles, and more sunlight in the yard.

All this from just putting a few things away! How did that happen!

Internet Speed

Is anybody out there old enough to remember communicating using a computer and a "Bulletin Board System" using a modem running about 30 baud. Baud was a term used in the old days when computer communications was done at a speed where the characters would appear on the other persons screen at just about the same speed as you could type - if you were a slow typist. "Baud" or Baud Rate (short for Baudot) is a term that is roughly equal to one character per second. A good typist could type faster than the modem could transmit the info.

Well 30 baud gave way to 60 baud and then the 1200 baud Modems came out followed by the really fast 2400 Baud modems. Today - folks using standard dial up service communicate at roughly 56,000 bps. Without going through the math ... 56 kbps is roughly equivalent to 8000 baud so I guess this means that the slowest internet connection today is roughly 250 times faster than we were able to communicate by computer back "in-the-day" (only about 25 years ago). SO WHAT - you say!

When Peggy and I travel we communicate on the internet by either using a wireless connection (WiFi) provided by the campgrounds where we stay or we connect by using my cell phone hooked to my computer. When we use WiFi - sometimes it is very fast and sometimes it is excruciating slow, sometimes it's included in the cost of the campground, and sometimes it costs more. When we have to use the cell phone connection the speed is about what one would experience using a home based dial-up connection (can be frustratingly slow). No matter what system we use on the road - I end up paying for our home based cable modem system as well which is making less and less sense.

I have been researching the various options available to us for accessing the internet and it looks like we are going to change to a broadband wireless system offered by Verizon Wireless. I plan on using a USB based wireless modem and a compatible router so we can have more than one device "on-line" at a time. We will use this system at home as well as when we are on the road so I won't have to pay for something at home that we can't use while we are traveling. The speed of the connection will vary depending on where we are and what type of signal is available from Verizon but it looks like our speed at home will actually improve! We have a cable based connection at home but we have the slowest (and cheapest) connection they offer which is only slightly better than dial-up (around 130 kbps download and 56 kbps upload). With the Verizon Wireless Broadband system I expect to see at least 1000 kbps download and 500 kbps on upload when we are home and similar speeds when we are on the road in a "good" signal area.

So tomorrow I will order the hardware and service plan and get it running when the hardware arrives (hopefully sometime late next week). After ensuring that it works the way I expect it will I will cancel our cable internet service. Unfortunately - when I cancel the cable service I will lose our e-mail address that we have used for the past 15 or so years (evringham@suscom-maine.net). We have been using a secondary e-mail address at mpevring@aol.com for a year or so now that was set up anticipating this kind of change and many of you already use this address when sending e-mail to us. Assuming the change goes ahead as planned I will probably set up another internet based email account for me and leave the mpevring@aol.com account for mostly Peggy. But more on that later!

Stay tuned to see if Mikee actually improves his internet connection speed and reliability or find out if the experiment fails miserably!

Plymouth, MA

Yesterday Peggy and I continued our visit to the Cape by taking the short drive up to Plymouth, MA. I have been to Plymouth several times over the past 30 years to consult with the folks at the nearby Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant and one of my past vendors – Bartlett Nuclear Inc. But Peggy has never made the trip with me and I never took the time to play tourist so we played tourist yesterday.

We started the day in downtown Plymouth near the bay by visiting Plymouth Rock and the other monuments to the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower that landed here in 1620. For those that pay attention to the news – you may have heard that some elderly lady accidentally drove her mini-van into a crowd of folks paying tribute to Vietnam Veterans at a park in downtown Plymouth yesterday. Well we were right at the scene of that fiasco – but fortunately it happened an hour or so after we left. While we were down by the bay we visited the Mayflower II – a replica of the Mayflower that was built in England in 1956 by craftsmen using 1600s technology and was sailed here in 1957 without escort. We had a very interesting tour and gained a perspective on what life would have been like aboard a very small ship in the early 1600s along with a hundred other souls spending a couple months at sea traveling to the new world. The Mayflower II and the nearby Plimoth Plantation are museums that use actors in apparel of the day and using language of the day to answer the questions of us tourists who visit. It was fun to talk to the actors who are very good at staying “in character” while answering questions.

After our visit to the downtown attractions we found a nice restaurant on the bay to have a leisurely lunch before heading to our next adventure at Plimoth Plantation. Plimoth Plantation is a re-creation of an early 1600s village in New England – built using the technology of the day and is presented as a working community with more “actors” who not only dress the part and talk the part – but actually work in the village doing the chores people would need to do – building buildings, tending crops and tending to animals. All this while cheerfully talking to us tourists and answering our questions (which they probably have heard hundreds of times) and staying in character the entire time. Not far from the “Pilgrim” village is a recreation of a Wampanoag settlement. The Wampanoag were the natives that befriended the Pilgrims and helped them survive their first months/years in the new world. The Wampanoag village is also inhabited – but this time the displays are manned by native Americans dressed in native garb and doing activities that they would have been doing “in the day” like making boats, cooking, building their housing, and making clothing. The Native Americans that inhabit the Wampanoag settlement are not actors and do not “stay in character” but are glad to answer questions about their culture and history.

We had a great time while in Plymouth. Although the admission fee to the Mayflower II/Plimoth Plantation is a little steep ($28 each for both locations – good for two days) – both of us felt the experience was well worth the $$ and we would definitely do it again!

We plan on staying here for one more day and heading home tomorrow. Today we plan on driving down to East Falmouth/Woods Hole to check out what’s down there and then maybe we’ll head up to Hyannis/Hyannisport to see where the Kennedy’s hang out.

The rain has stopped and I think the sun is scheduled for an appearance before the day is out – so off we go …

Playing with the Pilgrims

We had a great few days visiting with Brian, Nicky, Alyssa, and Emily and the annual big dance recital on Sunday was a success as always. The girls were beautiful in their costumes and make-up although Grandpa prefers the normal little girl look – but I suppose once a year is OK to pretend they are grown-up (the third dancer on the right is Alyssa’s friend Morgan – daughter of Brian and Nicky’s good friends Tom and Dawn). After the recital we all (Brian, Nicky, the girls, and Nicky’s mom and dad) had a sort of “after party” at Applebee’s and then we had to say our goodbyes since we would be leaving in the morning. Goodbyes are always tough but we feel fortunate to have spent time with all the NJ Evringhams for the third time this year before the end of May! It looks like they have plans to visit Maine in July so hopefully it won’t be long before we see then again.

Peggy and I left New Jersey on Monday and traveled up the I-95 corridor to around Mystic, CT where we stayed for the evening. After a lazy morning we hit the road again this morning and drove the relatively short distance up the coast and arrived here at Peter’s Pond near Sandwich, MA on Cape Cod where we plan to stay for a couple of days before heading back home. Although we have lived in Maine now for 29 years – we have never visited “the Cape” – so we thought we would take this opportunity. Actually – I think the timing is great … the weather is pretty decent and schools are still in session so the traffic and crowds are down – a great time to play tourist.

After arriving here and setting up camp in a very nice RV “Resort” we started out to take a short drive and see a few sights. The short drive ended up to be a trip all the way to the end of the Cape (Provincetown) and back. The drive up the coast along Route 6A was really nice and we got to see many very nice old homes – some that I’m sure date back to the 1700s. We stopped along the way to visit the Cape Cod National Seashore and Nauset Beach Lighthouse. The Nauset lighthouse is still a working navigational beacon.

Tomorrow we plan on driving over to Plymouth and do some touristy stuff including a visit to Plimoth Plantation and the required viewing of Plymouth Rock. Although the Rock was clearly not the stepping off point in the New World for the Pilgrims – viewing it still has some tourist lure and the best part – it’s free!

Remember – You may not be able to change history – but it can change you.

New Jersey

We did manage to make it to New Jersey yesterday.

We left home on Wednesday morning on a beautiful spring morning and had a nice drive through Maine and New Hampshire into Massachusetts. I've said this before - but I really dislike traveling through Mass in the motorhome. The drivers are probably among the worst in the US, the roads are right up there with the worst, and the rest stops are far from RV friendly. Although we tried to take a break at two different rest stops on the Mass Pike - the truck parking places were packed (as usual) so we kept driving to I-84 and then pulled off at a picnic area to take a break and have some lunch.

Remember now - we are still in Mass we haven't made it to CT yet. When we went to leave I turned the key and - nothing. Yep - you got it - the starter solenoid problem I had last year was back and this time I couldn't get it to operate no matter what wire I wiggled or area I lightly massaged with a hammer. So I removed the starter/solenoid and tried getting it to work while removed. I was able to get it to work a couple of times but it was obvious that it wasn't going to be reliable. So the next step was calling local parts stores to see if I could get a replacement. After failing to find one at two parts stores and the local Chevrolet dealership - I tried the Workhorse Chassis Service Center in Springfield Mass (about 30 miles away) and was able to find a new replacement assembly for the discounted price of only one arm and one leg. Having very few options at this point - I unhooked the car and drove to Springfield to give them the arm and leg on credit and drove back to the picnic area with my new shiny new starter in hand. It took about 10 minutes to install the new starter and another half hour to put all my tools away and re-hook up the car - then we were back on the road. In total we lost about 3 hours and the aforementioned body parts (on credit) - but all was working again and we made it to our planned destination in Newburgh, NY around 6 PM.

Our drive to NJ yesterday was far less eventful. After arriving and setting up we drove over to the kids house for a bit of visiting . Today we enjoyed sleeping in and then managed to get in our half hour walk before heading over to Brian's/Nicky's place. We spent a few hours helping Brian trim a bunch of limbs off trees in the front yard before the grandkids came home from school and we quit to visit with them and then we were off to Alyssa's soccer practice. This grand parent stuff is really hard work.

So we have a few more days here in NJ visiting, tree trimming, grand kid playing, and then there is the big dance recital on Sunday! Stay tuned to find out what new adventures will befall the Maineiacs and find out how we manage to get back home!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day - Decoration Day - whatever you like to call it - Peggy and I hope everybody is enjoying the day and remembering all those who have served our great nation in the armed forces and especially those who have given their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we enjoy.

We started our day by participating in the local Memorial Day Parade, driving the Chevelle along with the other "antique" cars. We had a beautiful morning for the parade and we had a good time waving to all the parade watchers - especially the kids. I was the official driver and Peggy was the official flag waver.

We drove home after the parade to finish our trip preparations - mowing the lawn and final motorhome loading. So now we are now pretty much ready to roll - look out you folks in NJ - we'll see you on Wednesday!

(Almost) Summah

I'm sure you've noticed the rapid increase in gas prices over the past few days/weeks. Do you think the price is going up because of supply and demand? Or is it because the refiners have shifted over to producing their "summer" blend and the summer blend is more expensive? Or rather - do you think it must be close to Memorial Day and believe that those that fix the price are raising the price in anticipation of increased travel in order to maximize their profits? I'm too cynical lately - I'll let you be the judge.

Meanwhile back here in Maine I have managed to finish re-staining/preserving the deck and have awakened the motorhome from its brief sleep and brought it home to prepare for our trip next week to NJ. Since I did all the prep work a few weeks ago when I put the rig in storage - there really isn't much left to do to be ready to go next Tuesday. Put in a bit of fresh water, install the tire pressure monitor sensors, load some food and some clothes - and were ready to roll.

Monday we will be driving the Chevelle in the Brunswick-Topsham Memorial Day Parade along with a bunch of other classic/antique cars. This will be a first for us and the Chevelle - I hope the car doesn't mind idling and driving slow that long - it was built for cruising and going fast in a straight line - not to idle. It looks like it is going to be a nice day so we'll hope for the best and to have a good time honoring all those who have served our country in the armed forces.

Today was a picture perfect day with lots of sun and mid to high 80 degree temps. It was a little warm for mid-May in Maine but it sure was nice to start enjoying some nice spring weather and getting ready for summah!

Good Friends

Peggy and I were married back in 1970 when we were youngsters of 20 years young. At the time we were married I had been in the Navy about 7 months and had just graduated from Machinist Mate "A' School in Great Lakes, Illinois. As I remember the timeline - I flew home from Chicago on Friday, we got the marriage license on Saturday, we got married on Sunday, we had our one day honeymoon in San Francisco on Sunday night/Monday, we drove over to Vallejo, CA on Monday afternoon and found an apartment, and we moved our "stuff" from Sacramento to Vallejo on Tuesday. After putting the few things we owned in place we drove up to my parents place in northern CA for a couple of days before heading back to Vallejo and reporting to Nuclear Power School the following Monday. WHEW - now that was a busy week!



Not many of my classmates were married in those days but Peggy and I did become friends with another couple from California who had been married only a few months themselves. Patty and Jerry remained our friends through those 6 months in Vallejo, the following 3 or so years in Idaho Falls, ID and then a few more years while we were stationed in Hawaii. We were there when their 2 kids were born and they were there for our first 2 (well actually the girls were there - Jerry and I were there part of the time while spending the remaining time under the water while assigned to our separate submarines). We parted ways in 1976 when we were transferred to NY and Patty and Jerry went back to Idaho. I decided that enough was enough in 1980 and became a civilian while Jerry and Patty continued their service a little past the 20 year mark when Jerry retired and they settled in Washington State and then ultimately to Oregon.



I mention this story just to bring up a point about good friends. Good friends are good friends regardless of time or distance. Although we hadn't really maintained close ties with Patty and Jerry since 1976 - we had kept in touch. When we retired in 2005 and made our first motorhome trip back west - we were able to head up to Oregon and see Patty and Jerry for the first time in almost 30 years. It really was a neat reunion - it seemed just like we had just seen each other last month. We also got to see them during our 2007 trip back west.



Jerry has always been a fellow car nut and a real Corvair aficionado. When we saw them back in 2007 I think Jerry had at least 7 Corvair bodies in various stages of assembly/dis-assembly and enough engine parts to power at least 6 or 7 more. Well it appears that they too have been bitten by the travel bug and are planning to make an east coast trip later this year. Rather than do the trip the easy way - they have decided to rebuild/restore a 1968 Corvair UltraVan. It seems that a specialty manufacturer built these 22 foot Corvair powered motorhomes back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. With aluminum aircraft type bodies, fiberglass endcaps, and Corvair powertrains these were pretty unique vehicles (the picture is one I took from the internet - not necessarily the one being restored by Jerry). I have no doubt that they will complete the restoration and hit the road for their great adventure later this summer/fall.



We can't wait to see them!

Spring has Sprung

OK - it seems that the legislators of the State of Maine - and in particular the legislator that sponsored the RV parking ban bill - have seen the light and have decided not to pass the RV parking ban. I'm sure there will be more attempts by our legislature to protect us from ourselves - but at least this one is dead for now!

Peg and I have put the finishing touches on the flowerbed project - getting the flowers planted and the mulch in - so now it's time to move on to the next project. Next on the list is reapplying sealer to the deck. The sealer is supposed to last for 10 or more years but NOT in Maine. It works well until winter and then seems to disappear with every shovelful of snow. At least this project is relatively inexpensive and doesn't involve lifting several hundred bricks - several times!

We also have firmed up our trip to NJ later this month. We will be leaving the day after Memorial Day and will stay overnight in Newburgh, NY before finishing the trip south on Wednesday. Right now (always subject to change) we plan on leaving to head back north on the following Monday but we still haven't decided on our route home. We kinda want to spend a couple days visiting some place we haven't been before - but we want to be back in Maine on Friday the 5th of June. So - sometime next week we also have to start getting the rig loaded again. We really don't have to load much - but there always seems to end up being more to load than I initially think.

By the way - anybody out there have a clue what is going on out there in California? How can you keep raising taxes and then keep falling deeper and deeper in debt? Never mind - I already know the answer. Unfortunately we in the State of Maine have the same over-spending problem but on a much smaller scale. Give us enough time and we too can bankrupt our government.

Bankrupt or not - it sure is a pretty state this time of year as spring is finally gaining ground and summer is right around the corner. Peggy and I went cruising in the Chevelle yesterday and had dinner at Fat Boys Drive In in Brunswick. Sounds a lot more fun than shoveling snow or watching the stock market now doesn't it!

*** Warning *** Political Rant ***

Although I have been accused from time to time of being rather opinionated, and rightfully so – I typically have refrained from using this blog to rant-on regarding my political thoughts. Since only a few of my family and friends even read this blog with any regularity and since many of them already think that I am politically right of Attila the Hun – what would be the purpose?

Well today will be an exception.

It seems that the Legislature of the State of Maine, embolden by the recent successes of those with “agendas different than mine” (I’d rather not put labels on them like Democrat, Leftist, Socialist, or Liberal) have really been going in crazy directions lately.

I think it really started about a year ago when they banned smoking in your own car if a child was present. Now I certainly don’t advocate that anyone smoke in a closed space with anyone else present who doesn’t want to breath the smoke – but I thought this one passed the limits of unreasonable intrusion into citizens rights. Of course I feel they same way about laws requiring people to wear helmets when riding motorcycles. Since then Maine has passed additional laws that doubled the tax on tobacco products, including those products that people use to help them stop smoking, have banned smoking on public beaches, and are working on banning smoking in outdoor areas of restaurants.

When the Maine legislature hasn’t been busy figuring out how to interfere in the private lives of its citizens while NOT figuring out how to fix the approximate $1B deficit in the state budget – it has been busy making homosexual marriage legal and now just recently it has taken on the REALLY IMPORTANT issue of people parking their RVs in commercial parking lots – even if the parking lot owner has granted permission!

So let me see if I’ve got this straight …. The State of Maine desperately wants more people to visit Maine so we can find ways to tax them and to have them give their money to our local businesses – so that we can tax them too …. and we don’t want people driving on our roads while “impaired” (meaning sleepy too) … and we don’t provide them with rest stops where they are allowed to stay and get some sleep … and now we want to keep them from parking in PRIVATE parking lots, even with the permission of the owner – to catch some sleep!

The sign welcoming people to Maine on I-95 reads “Welcome to Maine – The Way Life Should Be.” I vote for changing this to “STOP - Leave All Your Money – Then Turn Around and Leave.”

OK – I’m Better Now …

Final Landscaping Pics

Not much new to add since yesterday but the sun did come out today so I was able to finish the landscaping project and take some pictures. All we need now is to plant some flowers, add some mulch and sit back at sip some ice tea. I hope everyone has a great day and if I don't talk to you before Sunday - Happy Mothers Day to all you Moms!

Side Views - Notice Peggy got her curved lines ...

Back Yard Views - Notice the lines are a little straighter back here!

Just Hanging Out

Well this time it has been well over a week since my last post. It's not that I haven't thought about it - it's just that we have been doing pretty much the same stuff for the past week. Peggy was busy most of the week preparing for and participating in her Vacation Bible Study conference and I kept plodding along with my landscaping project in between the raindrops. I have managed to almost complete the project and I will post some more pictures once the rain stops so I can get out to take some more. All-In-All I am satisfied with my work. It will be interesting to see how difficult it will be to mow around those curves - but it's done now so I'll just have to deal with it (and Peggy likes it!). Peggy has planted some gladiolas in the front and has plans to add some annuals soon so perhaps we can start getting some color added to the project.

It looks like it is going to rain most of today so apparently outside projects are out for awhile. After digging in the dirt and handling bricks all week - this may be a good thing for the somewhat achy body.

We have been home for a little over a month now and have been relatively busy taking care of various routine doctor appointments and spring projects around the house. Believe it or not it is time to start planning our next outing! It looks like the next trip will be a short one down to New Jersey to visit the kids/grandkids again and mainly to watch the annual dance recital. I've lost track of how many years Alyssa has been doing dance but this will be Emily's first year participating in the "big show." I'm still not sure how long we will be gone but probably not much more than a week and a half as Peggy has some commitments back here. Perhaps we will take a few extra days coming home and find some looong way back to Maine. At least the motorhome is ready to roll this time and just needs to be re-loaded with some clothes and food - no snow to dig or ice to remove!

We will probably hang out here in Maine for the summer perhaps making a few short trips to places around New England that we never visit although we live nearby. As for our next "big" trip - we are keeping options open but we still have our Evringham Family History Trip in mind - traveling to western NY and then eastern Michigan following the trail of the Evringham family as they moved westward in the late 1800s.

After all - the Maineiacs are supposed to be In Motion at least part of the time!

Landscaping 101

It has been over a week since my last post so I thought I had better bring everyone up-to-date on the doings of the Maineiacs. When I left you last week I was starting out on my landscaping project which has kept me pretty busy over the week. With a little help from daughter Stacy I removed the second hedge/bush last Monday (Patriots Day for you non-New Englanders - still a state holiday here in Maine and down there in Massachusetts) and made a trip to the local Solid Waste Facility (da dump) to get rid of the demolition debris. Then - it was off to Home Depot to purchase several hundred pounds of concrete edgers and other related paraphernalia.

Then the real fun began. Here is the quick version of landscaping 101 ...


First - do the layout in such a way that both Peggy and I agree. Peggy wants curves - I like straight cause it's easier to mow. As you can see - Peggy wins again. Next it is time to break out the shovels and dig out the trough for the foundation - oh yea - you also have to prepare the foundation at the right depth and make sure everything is level - I haven't had this much fun digging in the dirt since I was a kid!


After pouring in and leveling some sand material to help form a solid base for the mini-wall - now it is time to start laying some brick. Did I tell you that in order to start actually placing the brick you have to first handle each brick 3 times? First you lift it from the pallet in the store and place it on the rolling cart. Then you lift it from the rolling cart and put it in the truck. Then you remove it from the truck and place it on the ground (near where you are working if you are smart). But I digress ... back to brick laying ... then you pick up each brick and put it in place, check it for level, move some sand around to make it level, and put the brick back in. Sounds like fun doesn't it! Several hours and several ibuprofen later you are done with one section and then you can move on to the next and do it all over again.


As you can see from the pictures - the front is pretty well complete except for cutting and placing a few more bricks in the small walkway by the hose reel. Maybe I can talk Peggy into the rest of the dirty work to actually plant some flowers/shrubs!












See - nothing to it! Only two more sides of the house to go!

Landscaping

Well the relatively nice weather has continued through the week. I managed to get the motorhome transmission fluid and filter changed, the exterior washed, and the carpet shampooed over the past few days so it is just about ready to go back into storage for a few weeks. But first I need to get the annual state required safety inspection done which is scheduled for this Wednesday. Since I will be taking the rig to the motorhome dealer where I bought it for the inspection, I hope to get a couple of other minor issues taken care of at the same time.

Since the motorhome pre-storage work is almost done I've started on my next project. About 20 years ago I used pressure treated landscape timbers to form a border around the flower beds up next to the house. Well after 20 years the wood has rotted and is in pretty sorry shape so I removed the timbers and loaded them into the truck for disposal later this week. My plan is to replace the timbers with stacked brick "Estate Edgers" so I started laying out the scheme for the perimeter. Now that I have a basic plan for how the new bricks are going to be installed - I'll pick up some materials and go to brick laying next week.

Peggy has decided that the two beautiful (my description - not hers) bushes that have been on each side of our front steps for as long as we have lived here do not fit into her plans for the new landscape. So - after carefully trimming these bushes for the last 29 years - today I grabbed the pruning shears, my sawzall, and a shovel and one of the bushes is now also in the back of my truck and the other will be tomorrow. It's a sad - sad day but alas they say that change can be good for the soul.

Ya'all will have to stay tuned to see how the landscape project turns out.

Easter in Maine and Working on the Whinney

Peggy and I have spent the past week taking care of routine doctor appointments, accomplishing various post trip motorhome maintenance chores, and enjoying Easter with family and friend (Stacy's "friend" Kaj). After attending church on Easter Sunday we had the gang over for BBQ Ribs, potato salad, and bunny cake interspersed with watching the Masters golf tourney. Not what some might call "traditional" - but we had a great meal and a fun visit with all.

The weather has been relatively nice the last few days. A little windy - but lots of sun and generally spring-like. As previously mentioned I have been working on getting some motorhome maintenance done . Although we probably won't be heading anywhere real soon - I wanted to get the work done now and move the rig back to storage rather than have it parked in the driveway all summer. After completing the sewer hose storage modification last week (it did turn out just as planned by-the-way) I moved on to some "normal" maintenance items like changing the engine oil. Since the rig now has about 47,000 miles on it I decided it was time to change the fuel filter (easy job) and the spark pugs (not necessarily so easy). By the way - what happened to buying spark plugs for $1.25 each? These new modern platinum or iridium coated spark plugs certainly do last a lot longer than in the old days but when did they start costing $8.00 each? I guess the good news is that you don't have to replace them annually like in the "old" days.

My last remaining maintenance item is to change the transmission fluid. This is another maintenance item that doesn't need to be accomplished too often but I've probably pushed the limit by waiting until now. But when did transmission fluid start costing $12 a quart!! I really like the Allison transmission that is in our rig but the recommended fluid is a 100% synthetic type that must have some gold or platinum additive! Like I said - I really like the Allison transmission in the rig and it does handle some pretty tough work pushing that 20,000 pound vehicle around the country on some pretty hot and cold days - so I reckon I'll bite the bullet and pay what it costs to keep the tranny happy.

Never a dull moment here in Topsham, Maine - working on the non-moveable house and preparing the rolling house for it's next job carrying the Maineiacs in Motion to their next adventure.

Snow Gone Day

Today was a special day at our house. What's so special you say? Was it "tax day?" Nope - not tax day. How about a birthday or anniversary? Nope - neither of those! Today was "Snow Gone Day." Yup that's right - by breaking up the resident snowbanks on a relatively warm day I managed to get all the snow banks in the yard melted today! I probably shouldn't get so excited as a potential for a small amount of wet snow is forecast for tomorrow night - but today was a pretty special day nonetheless.

On Monday Peggy and I had a goof off day which started as a trip down to Freeport to visit good ol LL Bean. I managed to break the frame on my favorite sunglasses while we were in NJ and since they were purchased at LL Bean - we stopped in to see if they would replace them for free - and they did! Well not exactly. It seems they no longer carry the model that I purchased about 4 years ago and the pair I liked the best were even more expensive (go figure) - but they did give me a credit for what I originally paid against the purchase of the new ones. All this without a receipt! You certainly do pay more when you buy from LL - but you can't beat the return policy.

After leaving Freeport we decided to head down to Scarborough and visit LL Bean's new competition in Maine - Cabela's. Wow - what a huge store! They certainly have just about anything you might be looking for in the hunting and fishing areas and a whole lot more. I enjoyed looking at the "antique" guns and some of the camping gear but we managed to escape the store without buying a thing.

But we weren't able to escape the new Famous Dave's BBQ Joint that is located next to Cabela's. Although we have driven by several other Famous Dave's down south - this was the first time we have tried the food. Not bad!

Besides working on the snow banks today I also started a motorhome "improvement" project I have been considering. I carry two sewer hoses in the rig - one that will reach about 8 feet and one that will reach about 20 feet. I prefer to use the 8 footer whenever I can since it's easier to work with - but sometimes the sewer hookup is just too far away and the 20 footer is necessary (or in the case of the Raccoon Valley Escapee Park near Knoxville - sometimes I have had to hook both together!). I carry the hoses in two plastic bins in the "basement" storage compartments but have never really liked the idea. It kinda limits what else I might want to carry in that compartment with a sewer hose! Sooo - borrowing on a couple of ideas I have seen others use I decided to manufacture a couple of storage tubes out of PVC drain pipe and mount them under the rig. The first tube is about 6 foot long (it will hold the 8 foot hose when it is collapsed) and is mounted transversely with the access end right at the wet bay (where the sewer hook-up is located). The second tube is about 10 foot long ( it will hold the 20 footer when collapsed) and is located behind the storage compartments under the living room slide-out. It can be easily accessed when the slide-out is in the out position. The really cool thing is that you really can't see either one from the motorhome exterior unless you really look close and know what you're looking for! Today I managed to buy the material, get the tubes manufactured, and completed the trial fit. Tomorrow I will complete the installation and then take great pride in my work!

Now I will have more room in the storage compartment to carry more stuff! I Wonder what I can put in there? Shhh - don't tell Peggy!

Doing What We Do

Now that we have returned from our Winter Warmup Trip I guess I will revert to my couple times per week blog entries - just to keep those who might care up to date on what we are up to here in Maine - "The Way Life Should Be."

First off - my toe is recovering from its trauma very well - it went from really painful prior to the doctors work to only slightly irritated afterwards - to pretty much normal now. It's nice when one can rid ones self from pain that easily. It usually doesn't work out that way!

Except for today which is a pretty decent day - the weather here has been pretty rainy/overcast ever since we got home. The good news is that the remaining snow/ice banks have been rapidly disappearing. We are supposed to get some more rain tomorrow and Tuesday so I expect any remaining snow/ice to be gone by mid next week. I managed to get out in the yard today and start the spring yard cleanup chore. I picked up about 5 large trash bags full of sticks, branches, acorns, pine cones and other assorted winter tree-trash and then called it a day (the NASCAR race was about to start). It will take a few more days of raking and pick-up for the yard to start looking decent. I'm thinking more and more about removing more of the trees in the backyard. A few of them are looking pretty sad anyway and the lawn would probably benefit from some more sun. I guess it can't hurt to get a couple of estimates - the trees I'm talking about are much taller than I'm comfortable playing Paul Bunyan with!

We have pretty much taken all the stuff out of the motorhome that needs to come out for now. I do have some motorhome maintenance work to get done so I'll have to work that in around the yard work. I picked up a "rebuild Kit" for my tow bar while we were at the FMCA convention in Perry last month. The kit consisted of all the teflon washers and crush nuts you need to take the unit apart, replace all the wearable sliding surfaces (teflon washers), and put it back together again (replacement nuts to replace the "use once" crush nuts that hold each bolt in place). Since the weather was pretty crummy the last few days I disassembled the tow bar, cleaned and inspected all the parts, re-painted the painted parts, and reassembled using the new parts. She is just like new now and ready for another couple of years of towing. I purchased the tow bar back in 2004 after buying the motorhome. It was used and had one towing season on it. Since then I have towed one vehicle or another about 45,000 miles. Considering this use - it's actually in pretty good shape with very little wear other than on the wearable parts I just replaced.

Peggy has been keeping pretty busy also getting stuff moved from one house to the other and restocking the shelves here in the non-moveable house. Now she gets to start preparing for her VBS training workshop in early May.

I guess we are back into full swing doing what we do here in Maine in the spring!

Shot in the Foot - & 2009 Spring Trip Stats

Well – we made it back safe and mostly sound. After spending Monday night in Sturbridge we made the final 200 or so miles back to Maine on Tuesday. We had a pretty nice partly sunny travel day and we included a side trip to Auburn to dump and flush our waste tanks – that will prevent having to deal with them over the next several weeks while we figure out when the next trip might be.

I have been dealing with a rather painful ingrown toenail issue for the past several days so I made an appointment with the doctor yesterday to have it looked at. After a great night’s sleep in my way comfy home bed I visited the Doc today and he shot my toe up with a local anesthetic and then he basically cut off a sliver of the right side of my right big toenail. It’s a good thing he made that toe go to sleep first or I’m sure I never would have let him come close to doing what he did! Even though the toe was definitely night-night – watching the procedure was enough to cause some mental pain. Then – to make things a little worse – he decided that I was overdue for a tetanus booster and he had the friendly nurse give me another shot – this time in my right arm. I guess they figured they might as well maximize my pain while I was there anyway! I can’t wait to see if the procedure helped my toe – I’ll find out once the toe wakes up.

OK – here are the trip statistics from the 2009 Winter Warmup Trip:

Miles Driven – 3625 miles – a bit more than last year’s spring trip which was 3440 miles.
Gallons of Gas Used – 533.2 gallons purchased in 12 separate stops.
Gas Mileage – approx 7.0 mpg. If you do the math using the miles and gallons figures above you won’t get 7.0. Since we ran the generator a lot while in Perry, GA at the convention and the generator uses the single main gas tank as well as the motor home engine - you can’t really use total miles divided by total gallons. Based on all the individual fill-ups – I estimate the average mileage at 7.0 mpg. This is about a half mpg worse that I experienced last year on a similar trip. I think the major contributors to the decrease were the fact that I used synthetic motor oil last year and didn’t this year (I used regular oil when I changed the oil last year before putting the rig in storage and didn’t change the oil again before I left. Based on these numbers I will be going back to synthetic oil!), I had a lot of windy travel days this year, and I think it’s time to change the spark plugs (overall motor home mileage is around 47,000 miles).

Nights on-the-road (all in campgrounds except for 4 nights "dry camping" at the convention in Perry, GA) – 42
Places Camped – 16 (Actually only 14 different places as we stayed in the same places twice on the way back in NJ and MA)

Average Price for Gas = $1.839 per gallon. By comparison we averaged $3.87 per gallon during last years spring trip, $2.98 per gallon during the spring 0f 2007, and $2.20 per gallon during the summer of 2005. The lower price of gas was definitely a big help to this trip’s travel budget!

Cheapest Gas – $1.509 (Carneys Point, NJ)
Most Expensive Gas $2.059 (Tie – Topsham, ME and Crestview, FL)
Tolls paid = $ 90.16
States Visited 17

As for our travel plans for the remainder of 2009? Those are still under development but some potentials include:

1. A trip back to NJ in late May to watch the granddaughters annual dance recitals. This will be Emily’s first year so it would be hard to miss that.

2. A trip to Western NY and Eastern Michigan to visit the sites of the Evringham family home places during their trek to the west coast. We may combine trip 1 and trip 2.

After that – who knows – all suggestions are welcome!