Category Archives: WFPB

Posts related to our Whole-Foods Plant-Based approach to healthy eating. We became vegetarians in 2000 and transitioned to being vegans in 2011. We discovered the WFPB concept in 2012.

2014/03/28 (F) Singing In The Rain

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Here’s a synopsis of our day in list form:

  • Fresh ground Ethiopian Yirgacheffe 1/2 -1/2 coffee from Teeko’s in Howell, MI Read blog posts on Feedly
  • Breakfast:  Homemade granola
  • Shopping:  Winn-Dixie, ACE Hardware, and CVS Counted cross-stitch Dump and flush black water tank Dump grey water tank Fill fresh water tank Mix tank treatment solution and add to waste tanks
  • Lunch:  Chickpea salad
  • RVillage website and e-mail (SKP BoF – Photographers and SKP BOF – HFH) Visit Lazydays RV display at WCRVR
  • Dinner:  Kale with cannellini beans, macaroni, onions, garlic and hot pepper flakes
  • A small group gathers at the WCRVR fire pit (Forecasted rain keeps the crowd small) John “Smitty” Smith plays guitar and sings (He does a lot of Peter, Paul, and Mary songs this evening, and we all sing along)
  • 7:00 PM tropical deluge begins; John sings anyway (The small group pulls the rocking chairs in to hear Smitty and avoid the rain)
  • We stay at the fire pit until almost 11PM.
  • The Fan-Tastic vent fan in the bedroom ceiling is NOT leaking.  Score!
  • Upload blog post for Mar 26 while Linda reads Sleep to the ever-present sound of rain on the roof of coach.

As the saying goes “just another day in paradise.”

 

2014/03/25 (T) That Is Imsane

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No; that is not a typo.  Today I learned about a WordPress plug-in named “imsanity,” and yes, that is how it is spelled.  Imsanity is not a well-kept secret—it has been downloaded over 45,000 times—but I had never heard of it until this morning.

I got an e-mail overnight letting me know that we had reached 80% of our disk storage quota on our QTH.com web-hosting account and asking me to delete files or contact the administrator to request an increase in our quota.  I figured I would do both so I started by contacting QTH.com to make the request.  I had been thinking for a while that I should go back and resize the photo files I uploaded to the website and blog, so the disk quota issue spurred me to action.

When we started the website/blog last year I was not familiar with digital image manipulation software and did not know how to resize an image for the web.  I do now, of course, but I had uploaded some 300 high resolution JPEG files before I learned how.  At 3.0+ MB each, our website/blog swelled to almost 1.0 GB of disk storage after only two months.  Clearly that was not going to be sustainable, but going back and fixing it was going to be a big job, and deleting them was not an option I was willing to entertain.

I was pondering the prospect of spending several weeks re-sizing images, uploading the image files, inserting them into old blog posts, deleting the original images from the blog posts, and finally deleting the old, large image files, all without making a mistake.  My guess is that I would never have accomplished this task, if I ever started.  I am, frankly, fairly busy with projects going forward and really had no interest in spending that kind of time fixing archival material.

And then a pair of e-mail replies arrived from Scott at QTH.com; my disk allocation had been bumped up, giving me some breathing room, followed by a recommendation to check out the “imsanity” plug-in for WordPress.  Not only do the QTH web-servers run extremely well, their technical support is second to none.

Imsanity is an insanely simple, but incredibly useful plug-in.  It can be used to retroactively re-size images in a WordPress site, which is exactly what I needed to do.  A few simple parameters establish the maximum horizontal and vertical image size for several categories of image use and the quality of JPEG to be created.  A simple search function identifies up to 250 image files that exceed the maximum limits.  You can select all of them at once or select individual files to process (as many as you want).  Click a button and it works its way through the list.  I accomplished in an hour what I thought would never get done, with no visible change in the old blog posts since the displayed size of the images is always smaller than the file size.  The only difference is that now when someone clicks on one of the images the largest it will appear is 1024 pixels horizontally or vertically.  The resized image files s are less than 1/6th the size of the originals, a significant savings in the use of disk space.  It also means that web pages and blog posts will load more quickly.   The other use of imsanity is to resize image files as they are uploaded if they exceed the maximum dimensions set in the plug-in’s parameters.  I am now resizing all of our photos before I upload them, so I should have less need of that capability.

Linda made a Swiss Chard with quinoa (instead of couscous).  Magnificent.  She has entered the recipe into the recipe section of our website.

2014/03/24 (M) Count Down

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As of today we are down to our final two weeks here at Williston Crossings RV Resort.  We were very busy going places and doing things in January and February.  We have continued to be busy in March, but limited our travels away from the RV resort.  That is due to a combination of factors.  For one, we have used our Florida State Parks annual pass enough to have gotten our monies worth out of it, so we are not feeling as pressed to get out there and see things.  For another, we have gotten busy with the new RVillage social networking website and other projects that are most easily accomplished in or near our coach.  A third factor is that the weather has gotten just enough warmer and drier (most of the time) that people are finally out and about here at the RV Resort.  That means more opportunity to socialize with our neighbors, who have invited use to happy hour gatherings and pot luck meals.

Bitter sweet.  As I have described in blog posts and articles it is always hard to leave friends, even after a 5-day rally or a 2-week HFH build.  We have been here for almost three months.  Folks are asking if we are coming back next year and we have had to tell them “no.”  That deserves an explanation.  It’s our first snowbird season and there is a lot of North America that we still need to see.  We simply cannot decide to return to the first place we have spent the winter away from Michigan.

We finally met Allen, one of the RV Resort owners, the other day and arranged to demonstrate RVillage for him this morning.  I set up an account for him and walked him through the main functions to highlight the purpose behind the website.  He seemed excited about it, and tasked someone in the office to arrange a day/time/place for me to demonstrate it to anyone in the park who might be interested.  He wanted it publicized on the resort cable system.  So far that has not happened, and time is running out, so it may not.

John and Ali like to go to The Blue Highway Pizzeria in Micanopy on Mondays; half-price drinks and double-punch on their free pizza card.  Linda and I went with them, split a nice salad, and then split a medium pizza; vegan sauce, no cheese, mushrooms, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes.  Lots of sun-dried tomatoes.  It was good, although I prefer the pizza at Satchel’s in Gainesville.  The restaurant gave them our “punches” since we don’t have a card.

 

2014/03/22 (S) WiFi Ants

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No, not WiFi Antennas; WiFi and ants, which I will get to later.

Saturday morning the refrigerator temperature was 40 degrees F.  I moved the remote wireless thermometer to the freezer compartment and left it until it settled in around 5 degrees F.  The refrigeration system, including the controls, appeared to be working.  Linda retrieved most of our frozen food and a few fresh things.  We partially restocked the fridge and I set the thermostat a bit lower.  Linda made a tofu scramble to use up some of the fresh ingredients, in case the problem returned.  Yum.

I checked my e-mail and found several dozen post replies and a few messages from RVillage.  We both played with RVillage for a while and I reported another bug.  I also had a message from the WiFi Ranger technical support team indicating that they had successfully uploaded a patch to our WFR MobileTi and switched it to a PRO feature set.  They wanted me to try logging in to the resort WiFi system and let them know if it worked.  I followed their instructions, and it did!  Finally, success!!!  I got back on their support forum to let them know and thanked them for their persistence in identifying and correcting the problem.

As best I understand it, the problem was not a bug in their firmware but rather a design assumption they made that an RV park WiFi system would never be a class 2 network.  Based on that assumption they were doing using IP addresses to connect to other WFR devices (WFR Go) in a way that conflicted with the class 2 network operating in our RV resort. WiFi Ranger thinks the chance of us running into this again is very small (unless we come back here, in which case it’s 100%).  This may, in fact, be the only RV park where we will ever encounter this.

I do not understand all of the details, but essentially a class 2 network has 2^16 (65,536) available IP addresses. That’s a LOT of IP addresses and made me wonder if the resort WiFi system is actually part of a much larger network, perhaps for the city of Williston or even for all of Levy County.  The “explanation” the network technician gave me some weeks ago was that our WiFi Ranger, being a repeater/router, was simply “not a supported device” as a matter of park policy and he was unable (unwilling) to give me any assistance with it even though he admitted knowing what it was and having  set them up before.  He could have just told me they were running a class 2 network and that it might have something to do with my problem, but he withheld that information.

The “logic” behind his explanation of the park policy was that we could “hide” data-intensive devices behind our system, such as streaming-video, gaming consoles, or even a web-server.  That was nonsense, of course.  If the concern was data-transfer, the network could simply monitor and control that at an IP address level.  When I indicated that one of the reasons for our router was to put our devices (and data transfers) behind an encrypted hardware firewall, he told me the WiFi system connection to the Internet was encrypted, as if that was somehow equivalent.  It’s not.  The connection between the resort WiFi system and the WiFi client devices is NOT encrypted, and thus open and viewable to someone intent on doing so.  Unless people are using secure applications, such as most banking software, their WiFi connection is vulnerable.  This is true of any system that does not require you to enter a WPA or other “key,” including the free WiFi at places like Panera Bread.

We have had good Verizon 4G/LTE service here, so getting online has not been a problem, but if that had not been the case we would have been in a really bad situation.  I was anxious to get this resolved while we were still here so they could test possible solutions on a network known to have this problem.

With computer tasks taken care of, we turned our attention to fixing the roof leak.  As we were setting up the Little Giant folding step/extension ladder we noticed ants traveling up and down the cable TV wire.  Yikes!  The cable runs into the bus through a small window by the driver’s seat.  We had used Frog Tape to seal up the opening against the weather, but it was not ant proof.  We checked inside but did not see any ants where the cable came in.  Closer inspection outside revealed them moving up and down along a body seam and horizontally along the floor line just above the bay doors on the driver side of the coach.  We quickly disconnected the TV cable (we don’t use it anyway because the analog signal in the park is not very good) and closed the little window.  Dealing with the ants, however, would have to wait.

Linda packed all of the tools and supplies I needed for the roof repair into a bag that I carried up with me.  The repair was simple enough; use the small caulk gun to apply Dicor self-leveling lap sealant around and up onto all four sides of the Fan-Tastic vent fan base.  This Dicor product is universally used in the RV industry for just this purpose.  It is not “runny” like water but it does flow, especially when warm, just enough to do what its name suggests, flowing into cracks, crevices, and small holes as it smooths out.  It eventually sets up and forms a skin, but remain pliable.  Rain is forecast starting late Sunday and running through the coming week, so we will find out then if I have fixed the problem.  The real problem, of course, is that the fan base is probably not installed properly.  The correct fix would be to remove it and reinstall it, but that was not going to happen sitting here in the RV resort.

Now for the Ants!  These were, thankfully, small black ants and not fire ants, which are a widespread and serious problem here in Florida.  We hooked up a spray nozzle and tried to flush as many of them away as we could.  It’s not that we wanted to harm even these tiny creatures, but we are not willing to share our home on wheels with them.  They are tenacious, and hung on tight or hunkered down in the nearest available crack.  Linda walked to the Grocery Depot and bought a can of ant spray that I applied to the concrete pad around the bus tires as best I could and on/around the electrical and water shorelines and the waste water drain hose.  Later I went to ACE Hardware, bought a couple of boxes of Borax, and used them to establish a defensive perimeter around the coach.  This is a treatment for ants that we have come across in numerous different forums.  The coming rains will wash it away so it will have to be reapplied.

We had a light/early dinner of hummus and pita chips, went for a walk, and then eventually headed to the fire pit with our customary glasses of wine.  John played the guitar and sang for hours, often joined by the group that had gathered.  We were they again until quiet time at 10 PM, at which time John stopped playing and we turned off the lights.  We still had a small fire and I continued to coax flames out of it for a while longer.  Kevin builds the initial fire and lights it, and John was the backup fire tender, but since he is usually playing his guitar I have assumed responsibility for tending the fire.

 

2014/03/20 (R) The Spring Equinox

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Winter officially yielded to spring today but we did not really notice.  Today was another beautiful day here in north central Florida, just like yesterday and just as tomorrow was forecast to be.  We hung around the RV resort and did quiet things.

We went to Satchel’s in Gainesville, Florida for dinner with John and Ali.  Linda had leftover pizza from there after she returned from Michigan, but this was her first visit to the place.  She agreed that it was uniquely charming.  The service was excellent once again.  We split part of a salad and ate half of a pizza, saving the leftovers for another meal.  The pesto base pizza with Daiya vegan cheese, mushrooms, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes was excellent.  The crust is the best I’ve had since we quit eating St. Louis style pizza from Imo’s, which is unfortunately not vegan.  Their brownies are vegan and we split one for dessert; no leftovers for this item.

We drove separately from John and Ali as we both had shopping to do, but not the same kind.  We stopped at Publix on our way back to Williston and stocked up on fresh fruits and greens.  We put everything in the refrigerator when we got back and I noticed during the evening that the refrigerator compartment was a bit warmer than normal.  Adjusting the thermostat was not having the desired effect.

Here are a few more photos from Satchel’s, all  taken on my Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone and post-processed using Faststone Image Viewer software:

Rear parking lot art at Satchel's in Gainesville, FL.

Rear parking lot art at Satchel’s in Gainesville, FL.

Ever wondered what to do with old CDs? Now you know.

Ever wondered what to do with old CDs? Now you know.

Remember 3.5 inch floppy disks? Now they are wall art.

Remember 3.5 inch floppy disks? Now they are wall art.

Part of the tile work at Satche''s in Gainesville, FL. Linda studying the bulletin board.

Part of the tile work at Satche”s in Gainesville, FL. Linda studying the bulletin board.

Yes, you can be seated here for your meal at Satchel's in Gainesville, FL. It's actually a difficult table to get.

Yes, you can be seated here for your meal at Satchel’s in Gainesville, FL. It’s actually a difficult table to get.

Part of the front outdoor seating area at Satchel's in Gainesville, FL.

Part of the front outdoor seating area at Satchel’s in Gainesville, FL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014/03/17 (N) St. Patrick’s Day

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By Sunday we were not so much tired as we were relaxed and enjoying low key days with wonderful weather at the RV resort.  The temperature made it into the low 80’s and, even with the windows open and the ceiling vent fans running, it got a bit warmer than that in the coach.  No matter; it was a relatively light day for RVillage website interactions and e-mail and we spent much of the day sitting outside reading.  We can only sit for so long at a time, however, so we went for a few walks and raked some leaves using a rake we borrowed from John next door.

Between 5:50 PM and 7:05 PM we got six e-mails from our whole house generator.  The first three let us know that the utility power had failed and the generator was running and supplying power to the house.  The last three let us know that utility power had been restored, that the generator was no longer supplying power to the house, and finally that the generator had shut down in an orderly fashion and was back in stand-by mode.  Sweet.  With sub-zero winter temperatures giving way to highs in the 40’s and above over the next five weeks we cannot afford to be without heat or a sump pump, both of which depend on electrical power.  Ditto for the AT&T Internet gateway that allows us to remotely monitor and control the whole-house generator and WiFi thermostat.  Technology really is cool when it works.

Williston Crossings RV Resort had a St. Patrick’s Day dinner (a day early) but we did not go, the menu having little-to-nothing we could eat.  The day was feeling a bit summery, so we had veggie burgers with cold green bean kale salad and fresh strawberries for dessert.  At dusk John and Ali decided to have a small campfire at their site next door and we joined them along with neighbors Doug and Paulette (from North Bay, ON) and Jim (“Sonny Fox”).  Glasses of white wine in hand we had our version of a “cocktail party” here at Williston Crossings.  Our bus conversion notwithstanding, we are still “campers” at heart and love to sit around a campfire in the evening.

Rain was forecast for overnight and through the next day, so we closed up the rig before turning in for the night.  The radar showed a heavy band of showers training slightly north of east off the Gulf and slowly drifting south over time towards our part of north central Florida.  We got the first raindrops sometime after midnight and by 4 AM had a full blown thunderstorm in progress.  Awake or asleep we are always aware of, and in close contact with, the weather when we are living in the bus and do not sleep as well as on calmer nights.

St. Patrick’s Day dawned wet and overcast with no discernible sunrise; just a gradual, slight lightening of the sky.  The clouds remained thick and dark all day and the rain was almost continuous until mid-afternoon, with torrential downpours at times, so we hunkered down and worked on computer-based tasks and did some reading.  By late afternoon the rain stopped but a heavy cloud layer continued to move over us from the southwest and the high temperature only reached 67 degrees F.

Soup (or stew) is always a welcome counterpoint to a cool, dreary day.  Linda found a recipe for kale, white bean, and potato stew.  The base was onions, carrots, and celery.  She used black beans instead of white, russet potatoes instead of Yukon Gold, and substituted balsamic vinegar for red wine vinegar.  She cut back on the quantity of water and ended up with a delicious, hearty soup.

We got a short walk in after dinner before the rain resumed around 8:00 PM.  PBS has been fund-raising for what seems like weeks now.  In recognition of St. Patrick’s Day they aired a concert by Celtic Women, followed by a concert by Judy Collins, all of which provided some entertainment for the evening.  Thunderstorms were again forecast for the early morning hours, but Tuesday promised clearer weather.

 

2014/03/15 (S) The Ides Of March

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On Thursday I spent time on the RVillage website and doing e-mail related to the public launch that occurred on Wednesday.  I also did some last minute housekeeping chores in preparation for Linda’s return from the great white frozen north.

The back parking lot at Satchel's in Gainesville, FL.

The back parking lot at Satchel’s in Gainesville, FL.

At 4 PM John, Ali, and I went to Satchel’s in Gainesville, Florida for dinner.  The word “funky” was probably invented to describe this place; it was unique, charming, and very bohemian.  The service was excellent and the pizza was the best I have had at a restaurant since we went vegan in 2011.  The crust was thin and cooked to a nice crisp.  They had a pesto sauce option, a first for me, and a choice of three vegan cheeses!  I selected the Daiya cheese because Linda has used it in her cooking and I knew it would melt well and taste good.  Mushrooms, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes topped it off.  The vegan pizza only came in a “medium” size, and it would have been pricey at $20 if it had not been so large.  Two pieces made a meal and I took the other four slices back to the coach.

Satchel's twin-engine fuselage. Most restaurants do not have one of these.

Satchel’s twin-engine fuselage. Most restaurants do not have one of these.

Satchel’s also makes their soda beverages from scratch.  I had their ginger soda and it was outstanding.  Made with real ginger, it reminded me very much of a “ginger beer” I had many years ago at an Ethiopian restaurant in Detroit, Michigan.  I have wanted a repeat of that experience ever since but never found it until now.  They also had a choice of two vegan cookies.  I had the oatmeal raisin cookie.  It was huge and very tasty.  I saved half for Linda to have on the drive back from the airport.

The back entrance to the bar at Satchel's in Gainesville, FL.

The back entrance to the bar at Satchel’s in Gainesville, FL.

Linda sent a text message at 8:15 PM that they were shutting the doors on her plane and by 8:30 PM I was headed for the Orlando International Airport.  The drive took two hours and I had just pulled into the cell phone parking lot when she called to let me know that she had just de-planed (15 minutes ahead of schedule).  Ten minutes later she was in the car and we were headed back to Williston.  We arrived back at the RV resort just after 12:30 AM (Friday).

The main bar entrance at Satchel's in Gainesville FL.

The main bar entrance at Satchel’s in Gainesville FL.

We slept in Friday morning and when we finally arose decided to have an easy day and stick around the RV resort.  The weather was picture perfect but I did not make any pictures.  We went for a couple of walks, something we have both missed these last few weeks.  We went to the fire pit that evening, as we usually do if we are here on a Friday or Saturday night.  There was a big crowd initially, but it thinned out between 8 and 9 PM leaving us to chat with a core group of friends who tend to stick around.

Ali and John headed for the restraurant entrance at Satchel's.

Ali and John headed for the restraurant entrance at Satchel’s.

Saturday we stayed “local” as well.  We did some grocery shopping at the local fruit and veggie stand and then went to the Winn-Dixie.  W-D had several things on sale or BOGO, so we finally got our own W-D card.  Up until now we have used the card of whoever was in line in front of or behind us.  I spent much of the afternoon working on the roster and dues records for our FMCA Freethinkers chapter, of which I am the VP and Secretary.  The positions do not take a lot time over the course of a year, but when they need my attention they can take up all or part of a day or two.

Now that Linda is back we are both eating better.  She made a green bean quinoa salad and a lemony kale salad; both served cold and very refreshing on a lovely, slightly warm, late-winter evening.

John capturing some information about an upcoming live performance at Satchel's.

John capturing some information about an upcoming live performance at Satchel’s.

With the change to Daylight Savings Time and the advancing season it does not get dark here until closer to 8 PM.  The resort still has the fire pit scheduled from 6:30 – 10:00 PM, however, and there is a full group by 6:45 PM.  We prefer our campfires in the dark and delayed going over for a while.  We met a very charming couple from Quebec and another very nice couple with whom we shared mutual friends in Ed and Janet Roelle, the GLCC members who recommended Williston Crossings RV Resort to us in the first place.

By 8:00 PM the early arrivals start to leave the fire pit and a smaller group settled in for the duration of the evening.  One of the friends we have made here, Meg, is getting ready to leave on Monday and head to Flint, Michigan to visit her grand-daughter who will be home from school on break.  Meg stayed longer at the fire pit than usual and she and Ali spent time catching up with Linda.  Meg got involved in rescuing dogs from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and taking them back to Canada for veterinary care and adoption.  A whole network grew up around her and she was interviewed by CNN.  One of the things we like about RVing is that everyone has a story, and some of them are very different from our own, and truly fascinating.

 

2014/02/14 (F) Valentine’s Day

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“Hallmark Holidays” have never been a big deal for us, and Valentine’s Day is no exception.  However, we had no plans to visit state parks today, had been looking for a day to visit the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville, needed to make a visit to Walmart, and wanted to try one of the vegan-friendly restaurants in Gainesville, so Valentine’s Day provided the needed excuse to do all of that in the same trip.  Before I go on, I am including a picture of us taken by Marian Hagan on our outing with her and John to the two Crystal River state parks last Sunday.

Us at Crystal River Buffer Preserve State Park. (Photo by Marian Hagan.)

Us at Crystal River Buffer Preserve State Park. (Photo by Marian Hagan.)

We selected The Jones Eastside which was open all day serving breakfast and lunch, and was staying open for dinner.  We can usually find acceptable food for lunch and dinner if we are thoughtful about our choice of restaurant, but breakfast is often limited to dry toast with jam and/or fresh fruit.  Nothing wrong with that, of course, but also nothing special about it.  At The Jones Eastside, however, we were able to order a tofu scramble with sides of potatoes and fruit and a stack of vegan flax seed pancakes with fresh blueberries and real maple syrup.  We split each dish in half and had a really nice breakfast.  The Jones Eastside was highly recommended on both HappyCow.com and Yelp.com, and deservedly so.  It’s a quaint little place using organic ingredients and providing attentive service; you go for the food, not for an upscale setting.

From The Jones Eastside we drove through the heart of downtown Gainesville to where we thought the Florida Museum of Natural History was located.  We enjoyed seeing the non-university part of town, and parts of the UF central campus, but the museum was not where I thought it was.  Our Garmin 465T GPS did, however, and we followed its directions into a major traffic jam.  We had been to Gainesville several times, but had not seen traffic like this before.

We found the museum, paid $4 to park, and went in.  Admission was free except for the Butterfly Rainforest and special exhibits.  We spent a couple of hours exploring the free exhibits and plan to return for the Butterflies and a special exhibit titled “Wolf to Woof” on the evolution of the domestic dog.  Like most serious museums, you could spend days here depending on the level of detail you wanted to absorb.

By the time we were done at the museum it was 4 PM.  Our Valentine’s Day still needed something “sweet” so we headed to Karma Cream for vegan ice cream.  We fought our way (slowly) through more terrible traffic, but it was worth it.  🙂

“GPS, find us a Walmart, please.”  It showed two in Gainesville so I picked the closer one just up the street.  It was closed, the building vacant.  🙁  So I selected the other one on SW Archer (US-24).  We routed ourselves over to FL-121 southbound which intersects Archer close to the Walmart.  YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE ON THIS ROAD DURING AFTERNOON RUSH HOUR, which is actually “hope you’re not in a rush” hour.  Truthfully, you do not want to be in Gainesville during the evening rush hour.  Period.  End of story.  Total gridlock.  Fortunately we were not in a rush to be anywhere in particular by any certain time so we only had to deal with our self-imposed frustration at being stuck in traffic.  It won’t happen again, at least not in Gainesville.

We eventually got to the Walmart (thank goodness they are open 24/7).  We do not go out of way to shop there, but it’s the only place locally where we can find Calgon Bath Beads which we mix with water and Pine Sol and add to our holding tanks.  It is also where we bought our microwave popcorn popper and have to get the disposable cardboard heating discs that go in the bottom.

Shopping done, we had no choice but to venture back out into traffic.  OK, we had a choice; we could have sat there for a couple of hours until traffic thinned.  If we had been the least bit hungry we could have gotten something to eat while we waited, but having just had ice cream our appetites were satisfied.  Fortunately we were close to the SW corner of Gainesville by now where FL-121 turns SSW and heads through the country to Williston.  We arrived back at the RV resort after 6 PM, but there was no fire going in the fire pit.

WCRVR was having a Valentine’s Day dinner/dance starting at 5 PM so the Friday night fire had not been built by Kevin at its usual time as he and his wife had gone to the dinner/dance.  But a short time later I noticed a flickering flame and went to investigate.  Next door neighbors John and Ali had not gone to the dinner/dance either and John, being the backup fire guy, was getting one going.  We opened our bottle of sparkling pink moscato, bundled up a bit against the cool evening air, and went over.  Ali brought John’s guitar, the rocking chairs slowly filled up (~16 people), and we sang along when we knew the words.  It was a lovely capstone to a very nice Valentine’s Day (traffic notwithstanding).

 

2014/02/12(W) Back In Time

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We woke to an overcast sky with rain in the forecast for the afternoon.  One of the closer state parks to us is the Dudley Farm Historic State Park.  I don’t know how many types of state parks Florida has, but so far we have been to: “Regular” (un-designated/default); Preserve; Buffer (Preserve); Wilderness (Preserve); Archeological; Geological; and Wildlife/preserve.  This was our first Historic(al) park and I know they have Battlefield parks.   I will not be surprised to find out there are other types as well, such as Marine or Bird Sanctuary.

Located in Newberry, Florida the Dudley Farm Historic SP is NW of Williston and due west of Gainesville.  We also needed to do some shopping today, so a trip to the state park in the morning (before the rain started) followed by a swing through Gainesville was our plan for the day.  We were on our way by 10 AM, taking US-27/41 NNW out of  Williston through Archer to Newberry where we headed west on Newberry Road (FL-26) about a mile to the park entrance.

Although there was plenty of room to park, we were surprised by the number of cars in the parking lot.  The park is not open on Monday’s and Tuesday’s, but the reason for the crowd became evident when we entered the visitor center.  In addition to the normal park staff and volunteers there where at least six women in period clothing working on an old large quilt and another woman weaving at a small loom.  Wednesday mornings is when this happens and it added a touch of “living history” to our visit.  I have posted a separate photo gallery of our visit to the Farm.

There were a few buildings by the visitor center for display and demonstration, but the main farm was a quarter mile walk through the woods on a level path.  The Dudley Farm was a thriving, successful family enterprise that began before the Civil War and continued until after WW II.  The farmstead, consisting of 18 buildings, equipment, and furnishings, was donated to the State in the early 1980’s along with 23 acres of the 600+ acre farm.  The State later acquired an additional 232 acres and more recently another 80 acres for the visitor center, entrance road and parking lot area.  This is not a “recreated” farm; all the buildings are in their original locations except for the General Store, which was moved to the farmstead from its location near the main road.

We roamed the farmstead for over an hour looking at, and going in, buildings and taking photographs.  We had the place to ourselves except for some birds, chickens, turkeys, and three mules.  Although the farm was “rough” by modern standards, it was interesting to try to imagine this place as a “state of the art” operation full of generations of Dudley’s and farm hands engaged in the slow but steady work of farm and domestic life.  The tendency is to romanticize and envision this place as somehow idyllic.  It wasn’t.  The farmhouse was certainly comfortable compared to being outside, and life was good (at least for the Dudley’s), but it was no doubt a hard life.

By the time we were done touring the farmstead the overcast had lowered almost to a ground cloud and it had started misting.  Although we lacked bright sunlight, blue skies, and intense colors, the soft, even, subdued light was ideal for making lower contrast images and seemed somehow appropriate in mood to the empty, gray, weathered buildings of this now quiet farmstead, preserved so that we might glimpse a moment back in time.

If the Dudley Farm HSP was the past, Gainesville is definitely the here and now.  As we got to I-75 on FL-26 we encountered heavy traffic.  We had not been to this part of Gainesville yet, but now we know where the major shopping area is located!  You name it, it’s here.  Conveniently for us the Office Max, Michaels, Trader Joe’s, and PetSmart were all in the same mega shopping center (one of many).  Trader Joe’s had a quite a selection of house brand wines for $2.99/bottle (750 mL) so we bought several.  I hope they are to our liking, because I sure like the price.  They did not, however, have a house brand moscato 🙁  A final stop at the Kangaroo filling station for fuel and we were on our way back to WCRVResort.

Linda made one of our favorite dishes for dinner; whole wheat capellini (angel hair) pasta with garlic, onions, mushrooms (two kinds), sun-dried tomatoes, and basil lightly sautéed in olive oil; simple, but absolutely delicious.

 

2014/02/10 (M) A Day Of Firsts

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It was a near perfect day weather-wise, and a pretty decent day in all other respects.   We woke to clear skies with temperatures in the upper 40’s but by late morning it was 70 and gained a few more degrees by late afternoon.  Winds were very light from no particular direction and there were very few flying bugs.  We had a leisurely morning with our usual coffee and granola.  We took showers.  Linda vacuumed.  I opened the awnings on the coach to let them air out and dry, with assistance from Linda for the patio awning.  This was only the second time we have deployed the awnings since we left home, and the first time we planned to leave them open as rain is predicted for only one day in the next 7 to 10 days.

Linda continued with her cross-stitch project and I dealt with e-mail, website, and technology issues.  Bill was unable to clear the error codes on Pat & Vickie’s DDEC I engine computer so I e-mailed Butch, who also has a DDEC I, and provided some additional guidance.  Bill indicated that they needed wiring diagrams, which Pat did not have.  Bill had them, but they were back home in Ontario.  Doh!  I have the diagrams with us on the Network Attached Storage device.  They are all PDFs I got from Bill on a CD.  I located the lists of drawing numbers, picked a half dozen that I thought might be what Pat needed, put them in a folder in our Dropbox, and e-mailed everyone back.  Dropbox has turned out to be one of the better little pieces of technology in our cyber arsenal.

Around noon we walked to the Grocery Depot to pick up a few ingredients for dinner; a one mile round trip and the closest place to the RV resort to buy groceries.  Linda prepared lunch and we ate outside; the first time the weather has been nice enough to do that since we got back to Williston Crossings on January 1st.  We then sat outside to work; again, one of the rare days we have been able to do that.  Mid-afternoon we went for a longer walk around the RV resort that included our first hike down into the quarry.

We noticed that WCRVR had installed a new sign just inside the new entrance to the resort off of FL-121.  This is where the new section of park is being developed with ownership sites that will be available for purchase.  The sign said “The Reserve at Williston Crossings” so apparently that is how they plan to market these sites.  The sign is framed on either side with a new wood rail fence and plants, all of which looks very nice.  The first two sites have had paver blocks added to the concrete pads to dress them up a bit; presumably as demo sites to show prospective owners what can be done if they so choose.  It will be interesting to see what else they do in this area before of the park before leave.

When we returned to our coach we continued to sit outside to work and just enjoy the day.  Although the park is quiet and peaceful, it is not silent during the day.  We rarely hear other residents (talk or music) but there are always folks walking or riding bikes, and maintenance work being done by resort staff and residents.  We are near the south/old entrance so when we are here we see all of the rigs coming and going that way.  We saw more people out tending their sites or cleaning their vehicles than on past walks.  And there are birds—lots of birds—and with the sunnier, warmer weather they have had a lot to say.

Eventually, inevitably, as afternoon faded into evening it cooled off and we lost our light.  We retreated inside, had dinner, and watched Antiques Road Show on Gainesville PBS while working on projects (cross-stitch and BCM) before retiring for the night.  Linda made a delicious acorn squash stuffed with white rice and mushrooms, and onions and we opened our bottle of Blueberry Rhubarb Wine from Forestedge Winery (LaPorte, MN).  We have been spending time at the resort on less than ideal weather days so we could use good weather days to go exploring.  We enjoyed finally spending a nice day at home.

 

2014/02/03-04 (M&T) Happy Birthday

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After our fairly active weekend we wanted to be home bodies for a couple of days.  It’s not that we couldn’t go all day every day; it’s that we don’t have to and choose not to.  We are not on vacation and we do not have to fill every waking minute with new and exciting adventures to the point of mental and physical exhaustion.  Linda needs quiet days to work on her cross-stitch project and I need quiet days to process photos and write.  Besides, Tuesday was my birthday and Linda wanted to bake a cake.  Oh, and we had to tend to bus issues.

Our male tabby cat Jasper, in his Sphinx position.

Our male tabby cat Jasper, in his Sphinx position.

A bus issue that had been developing for a while involved our auxiliary air compressor.  It was sounding worse by the day when it ran, vibrating excessively and making loud, unpleasant sounds.  I checked the mounting of the air compressor and the vibration dampening rubber mounts appeared to still be OK.  I noticed that the sight gauge on the side of the air accessories filter housing was showing water at the 80% full level so I decided to try draining the auxiliary air tank.

 

A hard copper line runs from the auxiliary air tank to a drain valve on the front outside corner of the floor in the bay under the driver’s seat.  I had to open it carefully using a pliers, but once it was open it let out what I estimated to be at least a quart of water, including a considerable quantity of milky white liquid similar in appearance to skim milk.

There is a petcock style drain on the bottom of the auxiliary air filter housing so I also opened that.  I got some water out, but not much, and the water level in the sight gauge did not drop.  I needed to start the main engine to roll the bus forward so a different section of the tires was in contact with the pad to avoid flat spots from being parked for three months.  I let the engine fast idle for over 10 minutes and used the higher pressure, very dry air from the main engine air compressor to purge the auxiliary air tank, air lines, and other air accessories.  When I was finally getting nothing but dry air from the drain I closed both drains tight and shut the engine off.

I was checking the bay and heard a distinct hiss indicating an air leak.  I sprayed soapy water on various fittings and finally got bubbles on the air compressor side of the check valve in the main air line from the auxiliary air compressor to the auxiliary air filter.  With the auxiliary air compressor not running this indicated that the check valve itself was leaking, not just the fitting.

I texted and then talked to our mobile mechanic, Joe Cannarozzi, about all of this.  Although he is staying at an RV park an hour from here He was tied up with a major bus project and unable to come work on this for us.  He was confident, however, that I could replace the check valve myself and that Prevost Jacksonville had them in stock.  (He had just spent four days there with the bus he is working on.)  He wanted to know when I had last drained the auxiliary tank.  I couldn’t recall the last time, but it was probably several years ago.   He suggested that I drain it daily.

Since I would have to depressurize the entire air system to replace the check valve I figured I would replace the filter element in the auxiliary air filter at the same time.  I looked up the part in the Prevost CatBase system and found the part numbers for the filter element and the O-ring/gasket kit.  I called Prevost Parts in Elgin, Illinois to order them.  As sometimes happens on an older bus our filter housing, and the service parts for it, were no longer available and had been superseded by a different assembly.  The check valve, however, was available and in stock at the Jacksonville service center.  I wanted to see the part before I purchased it to make sure it was what I needed, so I decided not to order it and instead drive to Jacksonville on Wednesday to get it.  That would be a two hour trip one way, so started looking at what else we could do over there.

Sunset light on thunderstorm cloud to the east. Our car and coach visible lower right.

Sunset light on thunderstorm cloud to the east. Our car and coach visible lower right.

Linda found a recipe for a vegan vanilla cake and made it for my birthday.  We went for a walk while it cooled.  Thunderstorms were building in the area as the sun set and we got some nice light on the clouds.  It turned out quiet well.  She made a sauce from fresh red raspberries to put on top and it was also very good.  Life is good.

 

2014/01/30 (R) Fort Wilderness

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Yesterday was a stay at home day after our 2-day whirlwind trip to the Venice, Florida area to visit with Steve and Karen.  We got up a bit earlier this morning than we have been lately and were on the road by 8 AM.  Our destination this time was Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World in Buena Vista, Florida.  The purpose of the trip was to visit Pat and Vickie Lintner, friends and fellow Prevost owners from our FMCA Great Lakes Converted Coaches chapter.

Walt Disney World is just southwest of Orlando and about 100 miles southeast of Williston.  We decided to take US and FL highways on the drive down return by way of the Florida Turnpike and I-75.  We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts south of Ocala for coffee and bagels and arrived at the overflow/visitor parking area for Fort Wilderness around 11 AM.  We had to pass through two gates to get to this parking lot, but each time we simply told them we were visiting campers at FW and they let us through without having to pay.  I phoned Pat and a few minutes later he and Vickie picked us up and gave us a driving tour of the campground on the way to their campsite.

Linda had been to Walt Disney World many years ago when our children were very young and stayed at Fort Wilderness in my parents’ motorhome.  We were there together in the early 2000’s when Linda had a professional development seminar at the Swan hotel near Epcot.  That was my one and only visit to WDW prior to today.

Like everything at WDW, Fort Wilderness is a really nice campground.  It’s divided up into sections, each with its own loop road.  The roads are narrow and winding, but the campsites are all angled so that even 40 foot motorhomes can back in easily to the paved sites.   There is extensive landscaping between the sites which, combined with the twisting roads, affords a lot privacy.  But there was only room for one car at each site, which is why Pat had us leave our car in the parking lot.  The common areas include playgrounds, bathrooms, shops, and restaurants, all done to be visually consistent with the Fort Wilderness theme.

The weather was light drizzle with temperatures in the mid-40’s and enough breeze to create a wind-chill factor, but we decided to go explore WDW anyway.  I did not, however, take my camera.  The photos in this post were provided by Vickie Lintner (thanks Vickie!).  From FW you can use the WDW transportation system, specifically the boats and monorail, to visit most of the hotels that are spread around the property free of charge.  We never entered any of the actual theme parks, which required the payment of an admission fee.

This horse with no name was very interested in us. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

This horse with no name was very interested in us. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

When we got to the Polynesian Hotel we decided to have lunch.  Pat had checked in advance and been told that any of the restaurants at WDW would make vegan dishes on request even if they were not on the menu.  Before being seated, the chef came out to talk with us and made some recommendations for vegan dishes he could prepare.  We ended up ordering a Pan Asian Noodle dish with tofu, and some100% Kona coffee, both of which were excellent.

Us on one of the WDW boats bundled up against the weather. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

Us on one of the WDW boats bundled up against the weather. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

We were a bit chilled by the time we got back to their coach, so Pat turned on the cube heater and we huddled under some throws to warm up.  While Vickie began preparing dinner Pat drove us to one of the other campground sections to visit with David and Marie Ross.  David and Marie had spent two nights at Williston Crossings visiting with us before going to Fort Wilderness to meet up with Marie’s sister and her husband for a week.  We got to meet them too and had a nice, but brief visit, before Pat returned to fetch us for dinner.

Us back at Pat & Vickie’s coach getting warm. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

Us back at Pat & Vickie’s coach getting warm. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

Vickie made a (vegan) butternut squash soup from scratch using her Vita-Mix and it was very good.  We learned about the Vita-Mix on our first Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise.  They are so powerful that you can make soup in them, not just blending ingredients, but heating them to boiling hot.  Following the soup course we had potatoes and mixed vegetables.

After dinner we drove to Downtown Disney, the shopping, eating, entertainment center of WDW.  We followed Pat but Vickie road with us to make sure we got there.  The weather had moderated a bit and there were a lot of people there, but we enjoyed walking the grounds and window shopping.  By 8 PM we were back at our cars.  Pat and Vickie led us to the entrance to the toll road, made a U-turn, and headed back to FW as we got on the highway and started for Williston.

2014/01/27 (M) Venice, FL

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We were up a little earlier this morning to finish packing and get on the road.  Our destination was Nokomis, Florida where Steve and Karen Limkemann are renting a unit for part of the winter in Bay Lake Estates mobile home park.  Nokomis is south of Sarasota just west of I-75 and borders Venice which is on the Gulf Coast.  We passed a lot of mobile home (manufactured housing) parks in this area; our first exposure to this iconic aspect of Florida.  The drive down took just over three hours, most of it due south on I-75, and into a different climate zone.  We arrived just after 11 AM, unloaded the car, and relaxed for a while before going to lunch at Café Evergreen.

Bay Lake Estates, Nokomis, FL.

Bay Lake Estates, Nokomis, FL.

Café Evergreen ( http://cafeeergreen.net ) has only been open for about six weeks and was not yet listed on Happy Cow.  It is an all-natural, all-organic restaurant and market, with a nice variety of menu choices, some of which are vegetarian and a few of which are vegan.  They serve breakfast on weekends and also have a coffee/juice bar.  Linda had the Grilled Eggplant Wrap sandwich and I had the Vegetarian Burger with the Napa Cabbage Slaw as a side (both of which were in fact vegan).  Both sandwiches were excellent.

Our table at Café Evergreen.

Our table at Café Evergreen.

Café Evergreen dining room.

Café Evergreen dining room.

From lunch we drove to Casey Key and parked at North Jetty Park.  We walked down the beach to the Jetty and watched people fishing, bird-watching, and sun-bathing as boats came and went.  It was warmer and dryer here than we have been experiencing up in Williston and very pleasant.  We soaked up some of that sun and took lots of photographs, mostly of Pelicans and Snowy Egrets.  We then drove to downtown Venice, parked in a public lot near the Venice Theater, and walked around downtown window shopping and taking photos.

L-to-R: Steve, Karen, and Linda.

L-to-R: Steve, Karen, and Linda.

Karen and Linda walking back from the beach, North Jetty Park, Casey Key, FL.

Karen and Linda walking back from the beach, North Jetty Park, Casey Key, FL.

We were originally planning on going to a Thai restaurant for dinner as it was the only restaurant in Venice listed on Happy Cow, but decided to return to Café Evergreen instead.  Linda had the Kelp Noodles Stir Fry and I had the Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli.  Again, both dishes were excellent, and Linda decided to do a review for Happy Cow went we got back to our bus.

We went back to Steve and Karen’s place to relax and change clothes before going to the Venice Theater to see the 8 PM performance by The Capital Steps.  We had seen them several times before at a theater in Canton, Michigan, but they had not been to that theater in the last few years.  Laughter really is the best medicine, and The Capital Steps had us laughing hard for almost two hours.  We returned to the mobile home, chatted for a while longer, and turned in for the night.

 

2014/01/17 (F) Campfire Music

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Today was a day for chores and relaxation.  I did the laundry while Linda tidied up the inside of the coach.  Various RV authors have said that the best way to learn about the area where you are camping, or intend to go to next, is from the people in RV parks and campgrounds where you stay.  And the best place to meet those people is often in the laundry room.  Today I had a long conversation with a fellow Williston Crossings resident with Alaska license plates on his truck while we were both doing our laundry.  He had traveled extensively and was a wealth of knowledge.

For lunch we had the vegan version of one of my favorite sandwiches: crunchy peanut butter and “mayo” with lettuce and pickle slices.  I used to make this sandwich with Miracle Whip.  (I was raised with Miracle Whip and have never cared for the taste of real mayonnaise.)  The vegan version of the sandwich uses “vegan mayo”, of course, and it is an acceptable substitute although it lacks the characteristic tanginess of MW.

It dropped below freezing again last night under clear skies, but rebounded quickly with the sunrise and topped out in the mid 60’s.  Linda sat outside in the sun and worked on her needlepoint.  She needs the light to see what she’s doing, and she likes sitting in the sun.

We ate dinner around 6:00 PM–left over angel hair pasta– and then went to the fire pit for the Friday evening campfire.  Kevin already had the fire going but we were early enough to get two of the rocking chairs.  By 6:45 PM all the chairs and benches were occupied and there were a few folks standing.  There were four guitarists playing and singing in various combinations.  Their selections tended to be country and folk, but they all played and sang well, and the rest of us listened, talked quietly, or sang along as we sat in the glow of the campfire.  It was too dark to photograph and we did not record it on our smartphones so you will just have to take my word for it; it was a warm and thoroughly delightful experience.

 

2014/01/16 (R) Wi-Fi Woes

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The Wi-Fi at Williston Crossings RV Resort has been very good since we got here.  There are professional grade access points with decent antennas positioned on towers all through the park.  The signals have been strong and steady, and the bandwidth generally very good.  Wi-Fi is always going to slow down when lots of people are using it, but the resort seems to have enough access points feeding into a robust enough router and gateway to handle the demands placed on the system by the residents.

A couple of weeks ago the resort announced that they were going to reconfigure the Wi-Fi system slightly and that starting on January 10 we would need a username and password.  We generally prefer “open” Wi-Fi signals since we connect to them with our roof-mounted Wi-Fi Ranger Mobile, which repeats the signal as a secure hot spot around out coach.  Our current configuration goes one step farther.  We have an Amped Wireless SR20000G Wi-Fi router/repeater configured as a bridge to the Wi-Fi Ranger.  The SR20000G creates a local area network to which we connect wirelessly along with a RAID 1 Network Attached Storage device connected via Ethernet.  The SR20000G then connects to the private/secure hotspot side of the Wi-Fi Ranger Mobile, which is connected to the wide area network on the public side and from there to the Internet.  It’s a great setup when everything works correctly.

In the past we have used our Wi-Fi Ranger Mobile successfully with both secure and filtered Wi-Fi networks, and both types are handled through the Wi-Fi Ranger web-browser interface.  Secure Wi-Fi systems require an encryption key, which is entered through the Wi-Fi Ranger control panel and stored for future use.  Filtered Wi-Fi networks are not secure.  After the radio and logical connection is established, you are taken to a web page where you enter a username and password and accept the terms and conditions of use.  Indeed, places like Panera don’t even bother with the username and password, they just want you to acknowledge the terms and conditions of use before allowing you access to the Internet through their system.  Fair enough, the Wi-Fi Ranger is designed to handle that as well right from the control panel.

We have had our system configured and working flawlessly right through yesterday morning.  When we returned from a day of hiking and visiting it was obvious that something had changed.  It still wasn’t working properly this morning so I inquired in the office and they confirmed that the guy who takes care of their Wi-Fi network had made changes yesterday and was working on the system today.  I reconfigured some of our equipment to use our Verizon Mi-Fi to get online and take care of e-mail and some BCM article tasks.  I called the Wi-Fi guy and chatted with him briefly, just to explain our setup and make sure there wasn’t any reason for it to now work.  I spent part of the rest of the day working with and reconfiguring our equipment and by late afternoon everything seemed to be back to normal.  I even found a better spot in the coach for the Verizon Mi-Fi device.

The day ended well, however, as Linda made whole-grain angel hair pasta with garlic, onion, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes, perfectly dressed in olive oil.  It’s one of my favorite dishes.

 

2014/01/12 (N) More Visitors

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Steve and Karen were headed to Deltona to visit relatives of Karen’s and were expected there around noon.  With a two hour drive ahead of them they needed to be on the road by10 AM.  We were all up before 8 AM, had a leisurely breakfast and set up a tripod to get a few photographs of the four of us before the left.

Linda, Bruce, Karen, and Steve at site 439, Williston Crossing RV Resort (FL).

Linda, Bruce, Karen, and Steve at site 439, Williston Crossing RV Resort (FL).

The more time we spend living in the bus the more normal it seems, but we are still very much aware of the fact that for most of our friends it is an object of considerable curiosity.  I think many of them are also fascinated, perhaps even a bit perplexed, by the idea that we live in even part time, and seeing it in person helps them understand just what it is that we are doing.

Last March (2013), while on our second Holistic Holiday at a Sea cruise, we became friends with a retired special education teacher from New York City named Norma. We exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers and have stated in touch with her since then.  Norma has a daughter who lives in Winter Park, Florida north of Orlando and not that far from where we are staying.  Norma has been down visiting, and e-mailed us yesterday indicating that family was headed to a state park for the day and would be close enough to stop in Williston for a visit.  A quick phone call this morning confirmed the arrangements; they would come to the RV resort on the way home so everyone could see the motorhome.  🙂

Linda, Norma, Anna (Norma’s daughter) and Anna’s children in our coach.

Linda, Norma, Anna (Norma’s daughter) and Anna’s children in our coach.

As of this morning our Dropbox client software was still unable to connect to the Dropbox cloud servers.  I was able to log in to our Dropbox account through various web browsers and upload a file, so that was some sort of progress.  I was not, however, able to access my settings page, so the Dropbox servers/accounts were not yet fully restored and functional.

Linda made pan-fried firm tofu with grilled onions and Bar-B-Q sauce served on a whole wheat hamburger bun.  The tofu has something of the texture of a fried egg, and the sandwich, while simple, is simply delicious.  A side of Brussels sprouts and broccoli provided our greens.

I worked on getting the blog up-to-date while we watched Downton Abbey.  I then transferred all of the photos for the Arcadia Bus Rally BCM article to a flash drive.  I need to put it in the mail to the editor tomorrow.

 

2014/01/11 (S) Silver River State Park (FL)

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We finally had a day with some sunshine and no rain and Karen suggested that we go to Silver River State Park.  Karen had been there many years ago and had fond memories of the place.  The park is in Silver Springs, Florida on the eastern edge of Ocala, Florida, about 35 miles from our wintering grounds at the WCRV Resort in Williston, Florida.  We left around 10 AM and were there by 10:45 AM.  I have posted a photo gallery with today’s date in addition to this blog posting.

Silver River SP is large for an urban location and has two entrances.  We went to the west entrance first.  This is where the water park, springs, glass bottom boats, concessions, and entertainment facilities are located.  There was also a major Ford car club show going on.  We could not buy an annual pass at this entrance, however, so we drove to the east entrance.  The east part of the park is where the campground, hiking trails, historic Cracker homestead, education facilities, and museum are located.  We bought an annual park pass, good for admission of one vehicle with up to eight people at most of the Florida State Parks, went in, and parked at the trailhead area.

Silver Springs SP, Silver Springs, Florida.

Silver River SP, Silver Springs, Florida.

We had a leisurely stroll on the 1.9 mile Swamp Trail.  The trail took us through pine Forest and cedar swamp to the south bank of the Silver River.  There was a variety of interesting flora along the way (with an occasional explanatory placard) that Steve and I stopped to photograph.  When we finished the hike we explored and photographed the Cracker homestead recreation, although none of the buildings were open.

Steve and Karen Limkemann., SSSP (FL).

Steve and Karen Limkemann., SRSP (FL).

While we were on the trail Linda got a call from our daughter.  She was at our house and said the road was icy and the driveway had not been plowed.  We had contracted with someone to take care of this in our absence and apparently they had not been there since the most recent heavy snows and extremely cold temperatures.  I called the phone number we have and got a Verizon message indicating that the number had been changed, disconnected, or was no longer in service.  Great (not).

Us at SSSP (FL). (Photo by Steve Limkemann.)

Us at SRSP (FL). (Photo by Steve Limkemann.)

We had gotten a referral for this snow removal service from the realtor who helped us by our house so I gave him a call.  I made it clear that we understood that this was not his problem and we did not consider him in any way responsible, but if there was any way he could contact this guy and determine if he was still in business we would appreciate it.  I thanked him, indicating that we really did not have anyone else we could call and appreciate any assistance he could provide.  This is one of the potential downsides to being away from home in the winter, but no reason to spoil a good hike.

The World Famous Glass Bottom Boats, SSSP (FL).

The World Famous Glass Bottom Boats, SRSP (FL).

Our hiking done we returned to the east end of the park.  This part of the park was once a private/commercial enterprise but is now a Florida State Park.  The water park wasn’t open this time of year, but we were there to ride the famous glass bottom boats.  The 30 minute ride gave us a great view of seven of the 20 springs that feed the Silver River.  The water was crystal clear, so light penetrated easily to the bottom (as much as 55 feet down in the spring openings) and was teeming with aquatic life.  A variety of birds were also there, especially Anhinga.  We did not see any alligators, but we did see plenty of warning signs.

Ford car show at SSSP (FL).

Ford car show at SRSP (FL).

The springs have been used for many years to film underwater scenes for movies, including one of the James Bond films.  Most famous, however, was the Sea Hunt TV series starring Lloyd Bridges.  All of the 120+ episodes were filmed in one particular spring that we were able to see.

Linda and Karen on the Swamp Tail, SSSP (FL).

Linda and Karen on the Swamp Tail, SRSP (FL).

The Ford car show had a lot of vehicles and a lot of people looking at them.  One whole area was high performance Shelby Cobras with a Ford GT nearby.  We wandered around and took a few pictures.  The wind started to come up and when Linda checked the weather there was a storm front moving our way with severe thunderstorm warnings for Williston.  We decided to head back as we had a couple of stops to make on the way and wanted to be back at the coach before the storms hit.

 

 

Steve photographing palms on the Swamp Trail, SSSP (FL).

Steve photographing palms on the Swamp Trail, SRSP (FL).

Sometime on Friday the Dropbox service developed a major problem as the result of some maintenance they were doing on the system.  Our desktop clients were suddenly unable to connect with the Dropbox cloud servers and I was also not able to log in through the web interface.  I had planned to upload photos for the BCM Arcadia Rally article and couldn’t.  Plan B was to put them on a flash drive and mail them.  I found a 16 GB unit for $9.99 at Staples and bought a padded mailing envelope to ship it in.  We then stopped at the Publix supermarket on US-27 to pick up some things Linda needed to make risotto.  It just started to rain as we got back to the coach, so we quickly got our groceries and ourselves inside.  Moments later the thunder, lightning, wind, and rain began in earnest.

Linda, Karen, and Steve at the Cracker Homestead, SSSP (FL).

Linda, Karen, and Steve at the Cracker Homestead, SRSP (FL).

Although Saturday is also fire pit night at WCRV Resort but they do not build a fire when high winds are forecast.  We heard voices over by the fire pit later but decided to hunker down for the evening.  Linda made a traditional Arborio rice risotto with mushrooms, onions, garlic, Pinot Grigio (which we also drank), and four different greens (kale, Swiss chard, spinach, and arugula).  It was truly excellent.  We had fresh strawberries and dark chocolate covered almonds for dessert.  We four people in the coach for dinner everyone has to hold their plates on their laps, but Steve and Karen were good sports about it.

2014/01/09 (R) Rainy Days And Writing

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I finished the first draft of my article for BCM on the Iron Horse converted bus and e-mailed it to the owners.  I also completed a draft of a shorter article on the Cool Cruiser bus conversion.  Both of these coaches were at the Arcadia Bus Rally where I was able to photograph them and interview the owners.

Rainy days are good days for this kind of work.  We’ve had a few recently, and we have taken advantage of them.  Linda has worked on her needlepoint, reading, and some accounting work in addition to putting our meals on the table, playing an occasional game on her iPad, and going for walks.  She is less inclined to sit and work for as long as I am, and rain does not deter her from walking.

Eventually, however, I also need to stretch my legs and get dome fresh air.  Around mid-afternoon we went for a long walk through the heart of downtown Williston and out to the west edge of town.  We stopped at an Italian restaurant to check out the menu and it had some options that would work for us.  We have friends arriving tomorrow mid-afternoon to spend a couple of nights, so we may try the restaurant for dinner.

We found the Win-Dixie supermarket and will check it out the next time we need groceries as it’s a lot closer than the Publix stores in Gainesville or Ocala.  We stopped at a roadside fruit and vegetable stand, sampled several different oranges, and bought a small container of one that was particularly juicy and flavorful.  We also stopped at the ACE Hardware store, checked out the store, and bought an outlet expander (2-to-6).

We were just about back to the entrance of the RV resort when a pickup truck passed us, slowed down, stopped, and backed up.  It was none other than Jimmy and Sadie Clay, the owners and converters of the Iron Horse.  They had driven over from Apopka, where they are volunteers in the state park, to check out Williston Crossings RV Resort.  They have a friend who had stayed there and told them how nice it was.  They were as surprised to see us as we were to see them.  We climbed in the back of their truck and gave them a guided tour of the resort.

Linda microwaved a couple of baking potatoes for dinner and sautéed onions, mushrooms, and broccoli with spices as a topping.  She added some shredded vegan cheese and we had a hearty, delicious meal.

We are both getting anxious to start exploring Florida, but it’s been good to be parked for the last week in our quiet little corner of our quiet little resort with cold, wet weather that gave me the opportunity to make significant progress on several critical projects.

 

2014/01/08 (W) Florida In Winter

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It dropped below freezing again last night here in Williston, Florida, but not by much.  This weather is not unusual for this time of year, and therefore not unexpected.  We normally use our three electric toe-kick heaters and our Broan ceramic cube heater to ward off the chill but when the outside temperatures get down towards freezing we use the Aqua Hot (diesel fueled hydronic heating system).

The unit has been running fine, but this morning I noticed that the coach had cooled off a bit. I checked the blowers on the bedroom and bathroom heat exchangers and the air coming out of them was not warm.  I checked the main unit (in one of the bays) and while the burner appeared to be running the feed lines were cool to the touch.  Normally they would be quite warm.  I turned off all three thermostats (bedroom, bathroom, and living room) and shut off the main switch that controls the burner.  The coolant in the overflow reservoir was at the add mark, so added some.  I turned the unit back on, turned on all three thermostats, and set them high enough to call for heat.  A short time later we had heat again.  The fans for the living room heat exchanger even came on (they haven’t been working the last couple of days).  Ahhh, the mysteries of the motorhome.  I added to much coolant, so of course it overflowed when it came up to temperature.

The weather was cloudy all day and the high temperature barely broke 50 degrees so we stuck around the RV resort.  Linda continued working on the needlepoint she is doing for Madeline and I started working on a featured bus article for Bus Conversions Magazine.  At the Arcadia Bus Rally I had the opportunity to interview Jimmy and Sadie Clay and photograph their 1984 Eagle Model 10 conversion “Iron Horse.”  The interior is done to resemble a railroad car from the Old Wild West.  I did not have a finished draft by bedtime, but I made excellent progress.

We took our usual walks and Linda made stuffed acorn squash for dinner using some leftover rice and other ingredients she had on hand.  She served it with a side of Brussels sprouts that she browned and then steamed.  Simple but delicious, and very satisfying on a cool evening.

2014/01/03 (F) Power Dinner

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Linda went to the Publix grocery store in Gainesville yesterday, so we are well stocked for the next week or so.  We also learned last night from Donna and Michael Bartolomeo that there are several vegan restaurants in Gainesville as well as a vegan ice cream parlor / bakery / brewery and a vegan pizzeria.  While we don’t plan to eat out very often, having vegan dining options less than 20 miles away is a nice plus.  The Happy Cow website confirmed their addresses and menu selections.

The overnight low hit 35 degrees F, but that is not unexpected in this part of Florida in January.  We had closed up the rig before we went to bed and did not turn on any of the heaters (other than the refrigerator) so the temperature inside dropped to just under 60 degrees F; a bit nippy, but not uncomfortable.  The refrigerator is a compressor driven residential unit that exhausts heat out the bottom front into the kitchen/dining area.  In warmer weather (no rain) we usually have the ceiling vent open and the exhaust fan running to pull that warm air out of the coach.  But in colder weather the vents are closed and the heat from the fridge helps keep the coach from getting too cold.

We lost power to the coach around 11:15 AM, but only for a few minutes.  The inverter kicked in immediately and did what it is supposed to do.  The microwave clock did not lose its time and the UPS that powers the NAS kept it double protected.  The power was restored before I could go investigate what had happened.  When I checked later there was no code set in our Progressive Industries EMS, indicating that we had simply lost power and then had it restored, which clears any previous error codes.

The View From Our Coach on Site 439 at WCRVR.

The View From Our Coach on Site 439 at Williston Crossings RV Resort.

After her morning walk Linda worked on her needlepoint while the light was good and I took care of e-mail, finished up the blog post for yesterday, and started working on the Arcadia Rally article for BCM.  I had an e-mail from BCM publisher Gary Hall indicating that they planned to bump the rally article to the March 2014 issue, so that gave me a little breathing room in terms of getting it done.  Gary also sent me the January 2014 special edition they produced for the FMCA Great Lakes Area Motor Coach Association (GLAMA).  This issue has an extensive article that I wrote on the September 2013 GLAMARAMA rally.  GLAMA is going to include the entire issue in their next newsletter, which will go out to somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 members.

Tonight was one of the scheduled fire pit nights at the resort.  The fire pit is only 100 feet from our site so we checked it out.  It‘s under cover and surrounded by large rocking chairs and a couple of benches.  We often enjoyed campfires when tent camping, but have not made very many since we started RVing in 2005.  We were planning on going when I got a call from Michael Bartolomeo inviting us to their motorhome for dinner.

Michael indicated that it had been a strange night and that’s when we found out that the whole north section of the park had lost power overnight.  Apparently the short power outage we experienced this morning was connected with the restoration of power to the north section.  We stopped by the office later and inquired as to what had happened.  Sometime the night before someone ran into a utility pole (outside the park) and took out power to half the city of Williston including the north section of the RV resort.  When utility crews finally repaired the damage and restored power, the transformer that feeds the southern half of the northern section failed.  A replacement had to be brought in from some distance away, and residents in that part of the resort were without power for about 18 hours.

Donna and Michael had been without power overnight and when they got it back their furnace decided not to work.  Michael was able to locate a loose connection and tighten it this morning which brought the furnace back to life, but they had a chilly night in their rig.  They had us over for dinner nonetheless and it was wonderful.  We had pistachios (in the shell) for an appetizer, butternut squash soup with fresh apple slices and croutons, and whole bean burritos with guacamole, spicy salsa, and steamed kale.  They served dark chocolate covered almonds for dessert and we drank Pinot Grigio to wash it all down as we continued our conversation from the night before.  No pictures yet, however, as we have not crossed paths with them during the day when I also had my camera with me.

2014/01/02 (R) Rainy Days And Chores

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As I have written here before, full- and extended-time RVing is not the same as being on vacation.  For one, we have the same housekeeping chores that we would have at home and rainy days are good days for doing inside chores.  We have enough clothing with us to last about 10 days and had not done the laundry in over a week, so today was laundry day.  Our site (439) is a short walk to the laundry room in the old/south section of the Williston Crossings RV Resort.  (Old means that it was here before the new/north section was built.  The old section is very nice with mature landscaping and facilities that are in excellent condition.)

When I checked my e-mail yesterday I had one from Donna Bartolomeo.  Donna and Michael are members of our FMCA Freethinkers chapter and fellow vegans.  They also arrived at Williston Crossings yesterday and will be here for a week.  By mid-afternoon the rain had let up so we went for a walk in the general direction of their site (245) and found them just as they were heading out for a bicycle ride.  We chatted for a few minutes and invited them to dinner, which they accepted.

They came over to our coach at 6 PM and brought a bottle of wine.  Linda prepared a nice green salad and made her mushroom kale barley risotto with garlic and shallots.  As with all of the other members of our chapter that we have had the pleasure to meet, we had a long, easy, comfortable conversation.  During the course of that conversation we found out that they have a home near St. Petersburg, Florida but had specifically booked this week at Williston Crossings back in October because we had announced that we would be here starting January 1st!  They invited us back to their motorhome for dinner sometime while they are here and I know we will spend more time in conversation with them before they leave.

A cold front has been pushing this way and the rain was forecast to end overnight with the low temperature dropping to 35 degrees F.  It looks like we will have a couple of days with mid-30s low temps and then a couple of days early next week with lows in the upper 20s but we knew that this part of Florida occasionally sees those kinds of temperatures in January, and we are prepared for them.

 

2013/12/28 (S) Historic Arcadia (FL)

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One of the activities that often takes place at RV rallies, especially converted bus rallies, is a scheduled open house.  People with owner-converted coaches are like a fraternity, and are always interested in what their fellow coach converters have done since they last crossed paths.  We are still undecided as to whether we will open our coach because of our cats, who tend to be wary of strangers, but just in case, Linda decided to clean house this morning while I wandered the rally site taking pictures.

Rally organizers and hosts Bill and Brenda Phelan are expecting 100 rigs to show up and by noon today at least 90 had arrived.  More arrived during the afternoon and a handful were planning to come in tomorrow.  The rally officially starts tomorrow (Sunday) at 7:30 AM with coffee, juice, donuts, and bagels.

1911 Arcadia (FL) Train Depot.

1911 Arcadia (FL) Train Depot.

Late morning we drove to the Arcadia, Florida historic district.  Most of the district lies between eastbound and westbound FL-70 from FL-17 west for a couple of blocks.  There was a sidewalk market throughout the district and we soon figured out that Arcadia is a center for antiques and collectibles.  Much of the original architecture remains but except for a few restaurants and other businesses most of the square footage is devoted to vintage resale.  This was perfect for us; lots of people out and about and lots of interesting things to look at, absolutely none of which we had any interest in buying.  It helps us stay within budget.

Oak Street, Arcadia (FL) Historic District.

Oak Street, Arcadia (FL) Historic District.

We had a light lunch when we got back to the coach after which Linda sat outside and read while I worked on some digital photographs.  Even though it was cloudy, the temperature got up a bit past 80 degrees F and the bus reached 84 inside.  I shut the computer and network electronics down since heat is their main enemy and we went over and had a long chat with Mike Muller and MaryAnn Nash who are parked two spots down from us.  They are another GLCC couple and Mike is the GLCC VP.

Another view of Oak Street.

Another view of Oak Street.

We returned to our bus around 4:30 PM to read and write when we felt a few raindrops.  We put the folding chairs away and went inside just as it started to rain so we closed up the roof vents.  The rain was brief, but the forecast for overnight and through the day tomorrow is for widespread, persistent, and occasionally heavy rain.  The combination of temperature and wind has been quite pleasant, and we have had very few bugs, but the humidity has been noticeable.  We expected that, this being Florida after all, but the storms forecasted for tomorrow are associated with a cold front, behind which the humidity should be a bit lower.

The old opera house in Arcadia (FL).

The old opera house in Arcadia (FL).

As dusk settled over the Turner Agri Civic Center we saw folks out strolling and decided to take our wine glasses and go for one ourselves before dinner.  Along the way we met John Silver of Central Florida Bus Sales and Repairs.  John has two coaches for sale at the rally; a 1994 Prevost XL (DD 8V92) Royale Coach and a 1997 MCI (DD 60 Series) Vantare.  Although it was night by the time we got back to the coach, we had good visibility for walking as the main entrance road to the Turner Agri Civic Center has a long line of very tall, very bright lights.  Many of the buses had their interior lights on, and some had exterior lights as well.  It made for a pretty sight.

A former hotel in Arcadia (FL) Historic District. Mary Margaret's Tea & Biscuit to the left.

A former hotel in Arcadia (FL) Historic District. Mary Margaret’s Tea & Biscuit to the left.

Many RVers like to dine out, especially at rallies with friends.  While we enjoy the company of our fellow RVers, we prefer to dine in as much as possible.  We have delicious dishes prepared with healthy fresh ingredients in reasonable portion sizes and at modest cost in the comfort of our own home.  Tonight was left over Tofurkey with baked potatoes and mustard greens that Linda bought from the only sidewalk vendor we found selling food in the Arcadia HistoricDdistrict today.  We started with a small glass of white wine and ended by finishing the vegan chocolate cake.

 

2013/12/27 (F) Arcadia FL

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Sandhill cranes at the Turner Agri Civic Center.

Sandhill cranes at the Turner Agri Civic Center.

We slept in this morning and did not get up until sunrise; very late for us.  I made a big pot of coffee and then went for a stroll to take some photographs in the early morning light.  I took photos in the afternoon light too, and I have assembled a gallery of images as a second post for today.  When I got back Linda made vegan blueberry pancakes with real Maple syrup and vegan breakfast sausage patties.  She does not use these fake meat products much anyone, but occasionally we like to have a more “traditional” breakfast.  Starting Sunday the rally provides coffee, juice, bagels, toast, and other breakfast items every morning.

After breakfast we drove into town to find a 10-32 Nylok (stop) nut and other items that had been accumulating on our list.  Our Garmin 465T GPS found the Walmart just 2 miles SE of the rally venue.  We spotted a Tractor Supply Company and a Do It Best Hardware store on the way to Walmart and made note of other local businesses as we passed by.  We found everything on our list at Walmart except for two items, one of which was the stop nut, so we stopped at the hardware store on the way back to the Turner Agri Civic Center.  Stop nut and drain stopper in hand, we started back to base camp and remember another item that we had not written down.  A quick U-turn back to the Sweetbay Market by the hardware store and we found a small (pocketsize) spiral bound notebook.  I needed something I could carry around easily to record various details of the rally for my BCM article.

Back at the coach I replaced the two regular nuts I had used to fix the main patio awning yesterday with a Nylok stop nut.  We let the awning sit for a while longer to make sure it was dry and then rolled it back up.  We are parked with the passenger side of the bus facing north so the awning wasn’t providing any shade but merely blocked our view of most of the rally.

We then decided to give the coach a quick wash.  The temperature was around 70 degrees F and there was a high overcast; plenty of light but not a blazing direct sunlight.  We closed up the roof vents and windows, got out the hoses, sprayer, collapsible bucket, brush, dish soap, and microfiber cloths and went to work.  The coach had picked up a film of road grime over the last 8 days and 1,300 miles and unlike most campgrounds, there was no problem with washing it at our site.  We had planned on doing this at the designated RV/Car Wash station at Williston Crossings when we got back, but now we won’t have to.  It still needs more hand detailing, but that can be done at our long-term site.

The washing done we opened the coach back up as it was getting warm inside.  We had lunch around 1:30 PM; tofu hot dogs with mustard, onions, and relish along with fresh grapes.  Apparently this was a comfort food day, but it was also an easy preparation meal.  While we were eating I got a call from Chuck Spera.  He was on his way from Naples to Ft Meyers and wanted to come to the rally site to visit and check it out.  His ETA was still two hours out, so we went for a walk.  I then took the camera and went out again as quite a few rigs had arrived during the day.

Barbara was back in Detroit for the holidays, so once we knew Chuck was coming we knew we would be going out for dinner and did some online research.  There are plenty of places to eat in Arcadia, but it is not a dining destination.  The Magnolia Seafood Grill appeared to be our best option; rated number one on Trip Advisor.  Chuck arrived at 4:25 PM as estimated.  Linda opened a bottle of our 2009 Egri Merlot and we settled in for a chat.  He had a mobile mechanic (Mustafa, seriously) in Naples replace the water pump, connecting hoses, and thermostat on his Detroit Diesel 8V92TA engine (the same one we have) that morning and had to go to Ft. Meyers to return the old water pump to avoid the $165 core charge.

As the sun set and it started to get dark it also got very cool as there had been a strong breeze from the northeast all day.  We headed for the heart of Arcadia’s historic district and found the restaurant.  Linda and I split a very nice salad and a very mediocre pasta marinara.  Chuck had a blackened Corvina (Cilus gilberti, similar to sea bass) with a baked potato and broccoli all of which he said was excellent.  Our waitress, Jackie, was delightful and attentive.  She even had the cook prepare our garlic bread with olive oil instead of butter.  Chuck had a 90 mile drive back to Pelican Lake in Naples, so concluded our visit around 7:30 PM, made plans to meet again, and went our separate ways.  We rounded out our meal back at the rig with some vegan chocolate cake and settled in to read, process photographs, work a few puzzles, and watch a little TV before going to bed.

 

2013/12/26 (R) Our Recent Travels

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We left Williston Crossings RV Resort in Williston, Florida at 10:15 AM and traveled to the Turner Agri Civic Center in Arcadia Florida for the Arcadia (Bus’in) Rally 2014.  Our route took us down US-27 to I-75 to FL-70 to US-17 and over to the rally venue, covering 200 miles in 3 hours and 45 minutes.  I-75 had a lot of traffic and a few construction zones, but US-27 and FL-70 we excellent roads with very few vehicles.  I have not been posting maps of our daily travels, so here is the route we have traveled starting on the 19th.  We have traveled about 1,300 miles in that time.

View Larger Map

We were met at the check in station by Bill and Brenda Phelan who now run the Arcadia Rally.  Linda took care of the paperwork while I introduced myself, indicating that I had been asked by the publisher of Bus Conversions Magazine to do an article on the rally.  We unhooked the car and were escorted to our back-in site.  We immediately recognized the bus parked behind us as belonging to Bill and Karen Gerrie.  They always travel with Karen’s sister Katherine and her husband Mike, and sure enough, they were here too!  By the time the rally starts on Sunday we expect there to be other converted bus people here that we know.

We were escorted to our site, backed in, straightened out, and leveled and then went through our usual arrival routine; Linda setting up the inside while I hooked up the electrical shoreline and checked the house battery state of charge and that the inverter/charger was working.  We then deployed the awnings.

While opening and securing the main patio awning the front rafter arm started to come off of the awning shaft.  Closer inspection revealed that there was supposed to be a retaining pin or bolt holding these two pieces together, but it was missing.  Yikes!  I looked down and there was a black bolt of approximately the right diameter and length on ground in front of me.  Was it possible that this had just fallen out?  I looked at the other end of the roller tube and there was the matching part, but with a Nylok nut on the end.  I went back to the other end and looked for the nut, but didn’t see it.  It probably fell off a long time ago, if it was ever there in the first place.  No one has worked on these awnings since they were installed by the Zip Dee Factory outside of Chicago, Illinois in October 2012.  It would have been very, very bad if these two parts had separated while we were traveling on the highway.

I managed to get the bolt back through the mating holes, but I did not have a Nylok nut of the correct size in my parts kit.  The Gerrie’s have a 1965 GMC bus that they converted.  Bill is a very knowledgeable and resourceful guy when it comes to buses, but he did not have an 8-32 Nylok nut either.  I did have some regular 8-32 nuts, however, so I double nutted the bolt and snugged it up nice and tight.  We added 8-32 Nylok nuts to our growing list of supplies we needed to buy and things we need to do.

With that chore out of the way, we pulled up the chairs and settled in for a chat.  I mentioned the Check Engine Light issue and erratic speedometer problem we’ve been having, and quick as a wink Bill had his ProLink/NexIQ engine diagnostic tool out, hooked up to our bus, and we were reading codes.  The DDEC II engine computer did not have any active codes set and only one inactive code.  The inactive code was for a fuel temperature sensor high voltage.  Joe Cannarozzi (our mobile mechanic) and I had replaced the fuel temperature sensor back in the spring but I never got around to hooking up my ProLink and clearing the old code.  That little oversight has caused me way too many anxious moments.  My bad.

Bill also had a special card for his diagnostic equipment that allowed us to look at the error codes from the ATEC transmission computer.  No codes were set, indicating that the vehicle speed sensor was sending a good signal at least as far as the transmission computer.  We assumed that was the case as the transmission was working great and the cruise control was working as it always has.  The erratic speedometer appears to be either a wiring problem between the computer and the dashboard or the speedometer gauge itself.  The easiest/cheapest thing to do would be to clean the connectors on both ends.  The next easiest thing would be to replace the speedometer and hope that’s the problem, but that will not be the least expensive solution if turns out not to be the gauge.

Although I had stopped worrying about the Check Engine Light, it was a great relief to know that there were no active error codes being generated by the engine or transmission computer.  One of the great things about rallies in general, and converted bus rallies in particular, is that many converted bus owners have done their own conversions and have a special sense of community about their machines.  They know their way around buses, travel with tools and parts, and are usually willing to help each other when there’s a problem.

With a potential awning disaster discovered and averted and the Check Engine Light issue resolve, we finally settled in to our chairs for a long, well-deserved, chat.  While we were talking four Sandhill Cranes walked by about 50 feet away.  These magnificent gray birds have a distinctive red cap on their heads, and can stand almost 4 feet tall.  Although they tend to spend summers much farther north in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Canada, we have them on our property in southern Michigan during the late spring to early winter.  We also saw kildeer, and several other birds we did not recognize.  On the drive down today we saw pelicans and egrets plus the usual raptors that can often be spotted along highways.

By 5:30 PM it was getting dark and mosquitoes started to appear so we wrapped up our conversation and headed inside for the night.  With all of the activity and socializing we had managed to skip lunch.  Rather than take an hour to prepare something, we had the chickpea salad Linda made the other day.  It’s one of our favorite cold dishes and reminds us of egg salad.

Linda turned on the TV and scanned for channels.  We are parked facing west with the front OTA TV antenna pointed slightly north of our nose.  That’s somewhat in the direction of Tampa St. Petersburg although they are actually northwest of our location.  The scanner found 60 digital stations, so she flipped through them to see what was there.  We had the PBS trio, a weather station, the usual commercial offerings, and lots of Spanish language stations.  Impressive really; if you look at a road atlas Arcadia is 40 miles east of I-75 and appears to be in the middle of huge swamp.

We could not find a usable Wi-Fi signal so we turned on our Verizon Mi-Fi device and got online.  If you need to be online while traveling, you need to have more than one way to get there.  (Technomadia has the definitive book on the subject for RVers.)  We checked e-mail and I worked on this post.  We took a few minutes to have vegan chocolate cake with fresh strawberries.  We finished up our online work and went to bed early.  Although the rally does not start until Sunday, I have to start acting like a reporter tomorrow so I can write a really good article on this event with lots of good photographs.

2013_12_25 (W) Season’s Greetings From Florida

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Publix grocery store in SW Gainesville, FL.

Publix grocery store in SW Gainesville, FL.

What do extended-time RVers do on Christmas day?  Pretty much what they would do at home, except for visiting/hosting family.  It got down to 33 degrees F overnight, so we had the spirit of winter if not the actual thing.  That was still above freezing and much better than the 9 degrees F in Howell, Michigan.  Linda put her knit cap on and went for a walk before breakfast.  With the way people are bundled up here she didn’t want to show off by walking without her hat.  We may not be overly concerned with fitting in, but there’s no reason to make people feel bad on Christmas day.  We both went for a couple of walks later in the day.  There are pictures of the RV resort throughout this post that do not necessarily relate the text.

Looking north from site #439. This will be our front window view.

Looking north from site #439. This will be our front window view.

This was our 7th day on the road and as we are leaving Williston Crossings RV Resort tomorrow for a week we needed to do a load of laundry.  One of the Laundromat buildings is fairly close to our current site and even closer to our long-term site when we get back.  Like everything else here it was clean and well lit with commercial washers and dryers in good condition and all functioning properly.  I took care of the laundry after breakfast, as I would have done at home, while Linda started working on our holiday meal, as she would have done at home.  At some level life on the road is just life, and there’s a certain comfort in that, but with more variety of new experiences which is why people do it.  We have been determined from the beginning that our extended-time RVing would not be an extended vacation.  Although we plan to do plenty of sight-seeing while we are in Florida, so far we have been quite comfortable with just sitting in one place and relaxing.

Looking south at site #439 in the south section. The trees will provide shade.

Looking south at site #439 in the south section. The trees will provide shade.

Linda’s first culinary task was to make her vegan chocolate cake.  She had not packed vegetable oil, so she used avocado oil instead.  The batter (I got to clean the bowl) did not have any unusual taste, so we expected the cake to be very good when we finally had some for dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

The fire pit in the south section, not far from site #439.

The fire pit in the south section, not far from site #439.

 

We turned on the dash radio and were able to tune in the Gainesville NPR station with a good strong signal even though the antenna is 20 miles away.  Not bad considering that our radio does not have an antenna at the moment!  It was removed as part of redoing the roof in 2011/12 and has not yet been replaced.  So at this point we have fast Wi-Fi, a good selection of over-the-air TV stations (including the PBS trio), and good radio signals (including NPR).  This place just gets better and better.

Walkway from the fire pit to the south section laundry room.

Walkway from the fire pit to the south section laundry room.

With our outstanding Wi-Fi we decided to try contacting our children using Facetime on our iPads.  We connected with our son and daughter-in-law first.  Our grand-daughter was having a late morning snack of teething pretzels and “freezy peasies” (frozen peas).  She seemed to recognize us and smiled and waved in-between gumming pretzels and peas.  She got very excited when our male cat, Jasper, wandered into the frame, so it was pretty clear that she recognized the images she was seeing.  Facetime is going to allow us to stay in touch with her development while we are here, which is very nice.  We then connected with our daughter and had a nice chat with her.  She was baking rolls for later today when she and her husband were getting together with her brother, his family, and a friend.

[R 693 The south section bath and laundry room.]

[R 693 The south section bath and laundry room.]

We bought a Tofurkey yesterday to have for our main dish today.  Linda had not tried to cook one in a convection/microwave oven before, and the cooking directions advised against microwaving it, so this was a bit of an experiment.  She made cranberry-orange relish yesterday from our remaining fresh cranberries.  Today she made a green salad which we ate an hour before our main mean.  She convection roasted the Tofurkey and it came out great.  While it was relaxing she microwaved a couple of yams and sautéed some asparagus spears to complete the side dishes.  We had a bottle of Early Season White Cranberry Wine from Forestedge Winery in Laporte, Minnesota to round out the meal.  Of the many non-grape wines available from Forestedge Winery, this is one of our favorites.

Yes, there is a shuffle board court. Isn't it lovely?

Yes, there is a shuffle board court. Isn’t it lovely?

 

It may be Christmas day, but chores have to be done when they have to be done.  Even though we have a full-hookup site at the rally in Arcadia we wanted to leave Williston tomorrow with empty holding tanks and a full fresh water tank.  You never know if the facilities you’ve been promised will actually be functional when you arrive.  I attended to these tasks after dinner.

Clubhouse on the left, pool house on the right, golf carts in the middle.

Clubhouse on the left, pool house on the right, golf carts in the middle.

After an early evening stroll through the RV resort we had vegan chocolate cake with fresh strawberries for dessert.  As expected, the cake was excellent.

 

2013_12_24 (T) Christmas Eve in Florida

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If you had asked me even 10 years ago if we would ever be in Florida on Christmas Eve I would have scoffed at the suggestion.  And yet here we are; and loving it.  We got up around 8 AM to clear skies and cool temperatures, the overnight low having gotten all the way down close to 50 degrees F.  There was a light breeze, and it was a bit brisk, but we were bemused to see people bundled up like they were in Michigan (where the temperatures were near 10 deg F).  Speaking of Michigan, there are quite a few people here at Williston Crossings RV Resort from our state, as well as from Ontario, Canada.

I made coffee, as I do every morning, and that got Linda up, as it does most mornings.  Teeko’s Sweet Seattle Dreams is a 50/50 mix of their Seattle Blend (caffeinated) and Sweet Dreams blend (decaffeinated).  We were the first customers that Jeff made this particular combination for, and he liked the aroma so much he is considering brewing up some to serve by the cup.  Not that we’re addicted or anything, but we like to start our day with the smell of coffee being ground and brewed.  The drinking that follows isn’t too bad either.  I uploaded several blog posts before breakfast and a few more afterwards while Linda went for her first walk of the day.  She is very focused on getting in at least 10,000 steps every day, and determined to drag me along.  🙂  We then headed for Gainesville, Florida to do some grocery shopping.

There was a Christmas Eve social at 4 PM in the Activities Building at Williston Crossings RV Resort; BYOBeverage and a hor d’ourves to share.  We didn’t have anything with us to share, so we picked up hummus and chips while we were in town.  Linda also needed various ingredients for our Christmas eve and Christmas day dinners.  Our research indicated that our best general purpose grocery option would be Publix, a large grocery store chain in Florida.  There are several in Gainesville (home of the University of Florida and the Florida Gators).  There is also an Earth Origins organic market in Gainesville.  One of the Publix stores is in the SW corner of the Gainesville area at the intersection of I-75 and FL-121, just 15 miles from the back entrance of the Williston Crossings RV Resort.  The Earth Origins market is in the northwest quadrant just north of the University of Florida campus.  Between the two stores we were able to find most of the products we are used to getting from the stores where we live, including Whole Foods.  We did not look for the Trader Joe’s in Gainesville on this trip, but we know there is one there if/when we need it.

We had a light lunch when we got back.  I continued to work on blog posts (I am almost caught up) while Linda entered receipts into Quicken and copied photo files from the NAS to her machine for redundant storage.

We took a roasted red pepper hummus and chips to the Christmas Eve social.  Our main reason for going was to be sociable, not for the food, but we always try to take something we can eat on the assumption that there won’t be anything else vegan available.  We got there just after 4 PM and left about an hour later.  During that time there were approximately 40 people there, enough to fill the room but a small percentage of the residents.  All seven people at our table were first time residents at Williston Crossings.  One couple was from Ontario and another had recently become full-timers, having sold everything and hit the road this past July.  Someone brought veggies, so we had something to eat besides the hummus and chips.

Linda prepared a lovely Christmas Eve dinner of angel hair pasta (somehow appropriately inappropriate for us) with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes tossed in an olive oil with garlic.  A little white wine to wash it down and some fresh strawberries for dessert finished the meal off nicely.

After dinner I went to the Adobe website to see if I could get some pre-sales technical support before deciding whether to order the Adobe Photoshop Photography Program.  This program is subscription based and includes Photoshop Creative Cloud and Lightroom 5 for $9.99 per month (with a one year commitment).  My Live Chat customer support person indicated that I would be able to use this on my old Windows XP Pro laptop, so I went ahead and ordered it.  Adobe was very efficient at taking my money, but as soon as I tried to download Photoshop I was informed that it was not compatible with my operating system.  Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.  I had a few “words” with the Live Chat person about this.  When our Live Chat session was done I was presented with a survey and I made it clear I was not pleased with the pre-sales support I had received which seemed more concerned with “helping” me to place the order than with accurately responding to my technical questions.

The subscription allows us to install the programs on two computers, and I did establish (I think) that we can move it to a new machine if/when we get one.  For now we downloaded the Creative Cloud app onto Linda’s much newer 64-bit Windows 8 machine and then used the app to download both Ps(CC) and Lr5 onto her computer.  Although Linda will probably not be the primary user of this software it at least got it installed so we can start learning how to use it.

2013_11_01-07 (F-R)A Busy Week

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The first week of November was very busy, enough so that I was unable (unwilling) to do daily blog posts.  Covering the whole week in one post makes for a longer post, but probably shorter than seven separate ones.

2013-11-01 (F)

We were supposed to get our bus back from the shop on Friday, November 1.  We didn’t.  That meant I could not take it to Phoenix Paint in Edwardsburg, Michigan on Monday the 4th.  I was reminded yet again that a true traveler has no fixed plan.  With that off the table temporarily, we turned out attention to other things; Ham Radio Breakfast on Saturday, for instance.  It was good conversation, as usual, and we finally arranged to have one couple over for dinner in a few weeks.

2013_11_02 (S)

Saturday afternoon Steve and Karen came over to visit and have dinner.  They were not able to attend our open house/warming because they were in Arizona where Steve had made arrangements to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon from the south rim and back up to the north rim.  Alas, the park was closed and they had to adjust their plans and find other things to do; which they did (true travelers have no fixed plan).  We don’t see them very often, so when we do we have a great, long visit.  We had a wonderful dinner of enchiladas and Mexican rice, finished off by chocolate cake with raspberry topping made from raspberries that Linda and I picked ourselves at the Middleton Berry Farm back in September.  All vegan, of course.

After dinner we looked at some of their photographs (digital) and they looked at some of ours (also digital).  Steve brought along a Raspberry Pi computer.  It was slightly larger than a deck of cards and had a 16 GB SD Card that served as its solid state hard drive.  It had a couple of USB ports, an HDMI port, and some other connections.  Steve had a wireless network adapter in one of the USB ports and a wireless keyboard transceiver (Bluetooth, I presume) in the other.  We already had an HDMI cable on the TV so he hooked up to that and voila, pictures.  He was even able to control the Raspberry Pi using our TV remote!  Now you have to admit, that’s pretty cool.  We were also delighted to find out that they have spent part of the last few winters in the Venice, Florida area and are returning again this year.  We shared our Florida plans and agreed that we would get together.

2013_11_03 (N)

Sunday we worked around the house and on our computers until late in the afternoon when Chuck and Barbara, our friends and fellow Prevost H3-40 converted coach owners, showed up to visit and have dinner.  Although they did make it to our open house/warming we did not get to visit with them very much that day.  We talked buses, of course, but we discussed a lot of other things too, including Florida, where they have spent the last six or seven winters, most recently in the Naples area.  Again, plans were made to meet while there.

As long as I am on the subject of Florida, we started thinking about extending our stay for at least another month because of potential problems with “seasonal weight restrictions” on the roads around our house.  I found out from Phil (of the pull-though driveway) that the restrictions usually go up March 1 and stay up until April 15.  Most of the roads in our county, and all of the roads we would have to use to get to our house, are subject to these seasonal weight restrictions but the signs never say what that means.  As it turns out, it means a weight limit of 8,400 pounds per axle.  Our drive axle (four tires) weighs 20,000 pounds and we have over 7,000 pounds on each of the front/steer tires, so there’s actually no legal way for us to get the bus to our house during that 45-day window.  What to do?  Stay in Florida for another month!  Problem solved.  New problem: where to stay?  New solution: the same place we are already staying, if they will let us extend our reservation.

2013_11_04 (M)

Monday came and went without the bus being ready.  While this delayed my plans yet again, it also provided more time to work on WordPress projects.  I checked on the WordPress Backup To Dropbox (wpb2d) plug-in and it appeared to be correctly backing up all four of the sites I am working on to our personal Dropbox account.  That was good to see.  I also started soliciting “beta testers” for each of the sites.  I continued working with the WP-Members plug-in and it appeared to be functioning correctly to block access to selected pages/posts behind a user login.  Given that, I started generating user lists for each of the sites to generate usernames and passwords and keep track of when I have created those in WP and provided them to each user.

2013_11_05 (T)

On Tuesday Linda was able to extend our stay at Williston Crossings RV Resort until April 1st (no fooling).  We will figure out later how to manage our trip back to Michigan so that we do not arrive before April 16.  Sometime during the week I received an e-mail from the Prevost Owners Group, to which we belong, that the Prevost Motorcoach Show would take place in Tampa, Florida on January 13 and 14, with a reception hosted by Prevost Car Inc. the evening of the 13th.  That sounded like an opportunity to finally meet some folks from Prevost in person, and to admire brand new conversions (that we will never buy) from the likes of Marathon, Millennium, Liberty, Parliament, and Vantare.  Sometime during the week it also came to our attention that the Prevost Community group we belong to is planning a rally for the first week of April 2014 at LazyDays RV Dealership in Seffner, Florida!  Well Bob’s your uncle.  It looks like delaying our return until at least April 16 won’t be that difficult at all.

I needed to make an appointment for my annual physical, so I got on the Henry Ford Health System website.  They have a new “feature” called MyChart.  When fully functional, which it is not yet, you are supposed to be able to directly book an appointment, and see all of your lab results.  But first you have to set up your account.  I called the number and got an activation code which I then used to create a Username and Password, and was finally able to log in.  The direct scheduling feature wasn’t available for my primary care physician, but there was a “Request An Appointment” page.  So I did.  I asked for an Adult Physical on Mon., Tue., Wed., or Thu. afternoon between Monday November 25, 2013 and Friday December 6, 2013.  Less than 24 hours later I received an e-mail informing me that I had been scheduled for a 1:00 PM appointment for an Office Visit on January 15, 2014.  Huh???

I used to program computers for a living, and I used to do systems engineering, and I used to do sales and marketing of these things, and I ended my career as a consultant.  This didn’t strike me as bad programming; it struck me as bad policy that got translated into a bad systems specification.  So I wrote back to HFHS customer service and told them, as politely as I could, that their system was stupid, that is to say, the policies behind the implementation of their system were not “customer-centric.”  If I had wanted an appointment in mid-January I would have requested one.  So as of now, I do not have said appointment.

The bus was ready to pick up on Tuesday, so Chuck drove me down to W. W. Williams to get it.  I took care of the paperwork and left with Chuck following me in his truck.  I no sooner hit the highway than I got a Check Engine Light.  It came on and stayed on, so I phoned Chuck and let him know that I needed to turn around and take it back if he was willing to follow me and take me back home.  He was, so this we did; my plans further delayed.  There are worse things that can happen on this bus; the Stop Engine Light, for instance.  This light means exactly what it says, the engine is going to stop and you need to get to the side of the road, now, before it does.  I’ve only seen that once, shortly after we bought it.  We took care of some key maintenance issues and have never seen it again (and I hope that we never do).  I figured I wouldn’t get the bus back from W. W. Williams until Wednesday afternoon at best, so any trip to Edwardsburg was now delayed until Thursday.  I called Michele to let her know.  She had Pato and Tommy lined up to look at it on Friday, so I was getting anxious to get it down there.  But there’s nothing you can do until the mechanics (they are now called technicians) are ready to give it back to you.  And frankly, you really don’t want it back until they are sure it is fixed.

While I was gone dealing with the bus, we got a call from Steve (mentioned earlier) wondering if he had left his Raspberry Pi computer here on Saturday.  We checked.  Yup, it was here.  Rather than meet him somewhere, we agreed that he would come back to the house on Wednesday to get it and do some work on our computers while he was here.

2013_11_06 (W)

Steve arrived late Wednesday morning, Linux “tools” in hand.  The principle target of the work was to install Linux on one of our machines and then install/configure the Apache web-server program.  This would allow us to have a “virtual web-server” that I could use to build duplicate installations of my WordPress sites, allowing me to develop and test them before making the same changes to the live sites.  That sounded cool.  Steve has been trying to get me interested in Linux for 10 years but I never saw a real need for it until now.  It turned in to an all-day project (of course, don’t they all?) due to the age of the machine we decided to use, but that was the machine I wasn’t using for much of anything else, so that’s where it needed to go.  Steve got Linux installed and then installed Apache2.  We ran out of time to configure the Apache2 program, but that was OK as it will give Steve a reason to come back.

While we were working on the computers we talked some more about Florida.  It turns out that the Capitol Steps are scheduled to appear at the Venice Stage Theater in Venice, Florida at the end of January.  Our annual get-together with Steve and Karen has often involved dinner and a performance by this group, which specializes in political satire, much of it musical.  They said we could stay overnight at the place they rent for winter in Venice if we wanted to go to the performance, which is at 8:00 PM on a Monday evening.  The nice thing about traveling with cats is that you can leave them for 24 hours and they are fine.  They sleep for 20 of those anyway.

I checked Wednesday afternoon and the bus was reported as “ready to go.”  I decided to pick it up early Thursday morning and head directly to Edwardsburg.  That meant towing the car so I had a way home, but it also meant that Linda did not have to drive me to W. W. Williams.  That worked out well as she had to head in to the bakery on Thursday anyway.

I sometimes get a bit anxious the night before I am going to drive the bus as I don’t drive it every day and we are still finding a fixing “issues.”  I used to experience the same thing when we would book one of the Southgate Flying Club airplanes and go flying.  Again, I didn’t fly every day.  Does this ever happen to you?  As I was drifting off to sleep I suddenly remembered that I had planned to fill the fuel tank at the Mobil Truck Stop on I-96 between Howell and Lansing.  But that was based on leaving from home.  Now wide awake, I got my iPad, pulled up the map application, and zoomed in on the I-94 Baker Road interchange west of Ann Arbor.  There are three truck stops there, two Pilots and one Travel America.  I was able to examine each one carefully, checking in/out access and pump locations.  I decided the Pilot station on the north side of the highway was my best option.  I knew I had enough fuel in the tank to get that far easily, so I was then able to go back to bed and finally fall asleep.

2013_11_07 (R)

I must have been sleeping lightly because around 4 AM I was awakened by the faint sound of running water.  That’s another one of those sounds that will jolt you awake once you become aware of it.  The new flapper in the master bedroom toilet wasn’t quite sealed and the water was running ever so slowly trying to keep the tank full.  I was finally able to adjust the flapper a couple of days later and get it to seal, but between the truck stop research and the running water, it turned out to be a short, fitful night’s sleep.  Not good preparation for a long day of driving.

I would like to say that the trip from W. W. Williams to Phoenix Paint was uneventful, but Check Engine Lights are definitely an event, and I saw ours come on four times.  It eventually went off each time, finally staying off after the 4th time; once it’s come on I tend to be a bit on edge wondering when I will see it again (or worse).

I stopped for fuel at the aforementioned Pilot truck stop on the north side of I-94 at Baker Road and pulled in behind a truck at the last pump, or so I thought.  I sat there for a while until the driver came out and moved it, at which point I pulled up only to discover that there wasn’t a pump at that position.  So I pulled out of the truck stop onto Baker Road, came back in the entrance, and got in line behind a truck that was putting fuel in its tanks.  That truck finally moved and I was able to pull up to the pump.

Getting fuel at a truck stop isn’t like putting fuel in your car.  The gallons and dollars involved are usually an order of magnitude larger and you usually cannot run a credit card at the pump.  I went inside, waited in line, and was finally waited on by a nice woman.  I told her I probably needed 150 gallons and I failed to recognize that she ran my credit card for $150.  I was only half done washing the windshields (the bus has four) when the pump shut off.  It had put in 37.9 gallons for exactly $150.  So I went back inside, stood in line again, and had her run the card for another $350.  Back outside, I restarted the pump, waited for it to finish, then went back inside, got back in line, and got not one, but two, receipts with the dollars and gallons on them.  By the time I got back on the highway the fuel stop had taken about one hour.  More delay.

No sooner was I on the road then I got a call from Chuck checking on how my trip was going.  That was both thoughtful and reassuring; it’s comforting to know folks are aware of you and concerned for your well-being.  In some ways, owning a converted coach makes you part of a “fraternity”, if you care to join.  While we were on the phone the Check Engine Light came on for the 3rd time since I had left W. W. Williams.  It went off and came on again.  I discussed it with Chuck and decided to pull off at MY FAVORITE REST AREA to check the coolant level in the overflow reservoir.  (I talked about this rest area in my article in the February 2013 issue of Bus Conversions Magazine.  This is the same rest area where I was stranded while Linda and I repaired the patio awning that came loose a few miles earlier on westbound I-94.  Ironically, I was on my way to Phoenix Paint at that time as well.  I’m not superstitious, but I don’t like unlikely coincidences.)

The rest stop in question is near Grass Lake, Michigan, about 12 miles east of Jackson, Michigan.  It’s a very nice rest stop; I just seem to end up stopping here for less than nice reasons.  I popped the rear engine hatch, improvised a dip stick, and checked the level in the overflow reservoir.  It was up to the bottom edge of the filler tube, so no obvious problem there.  I looked around the engine bay for any sign of a coolant leak, but everything looked dry.  I took some comfort in the fact that Bob, the service manager at W. W. Williams (Dearborn) had told me that he and the technicians were very impressed with the condition of our engine; that it sounded good and ran well.  They’re real experts, so that’s no small thing.

The rest of the trip really was uneventful.  The Check Engine Light did not come on again, the transmission shifted well, the cruise control worked properly (as it always has), the engine coolant and oil temperatures ran normal, and the speedometer suddenly decided to work again!  I took I-94 W to I-69 S to M-60 W to M-40 S to US-12 W to M-205 W and pulled into Phoenix Paint just a mile north of the Indiana border around 1:00 PM.  I’ve done this trip many times, but it was a very pleasant drive with fall colors still in evidence, light traffic, and nice weather.

Michele got me into the building and parked and had me air up the suspension so they could have easier access to the inside of the wheel wells.  She and Pato got right to work removing the damaged panels while I hooked up the electrical shoreline, got the house battery charger turned back on, and activated some circuits for the inside of the bus including the auxiliary air compressor.  I stopped to look at things and answer questions as I unloaded some items from the car, and then moved stuff from the bus to car that had to return home with me.  What started out as a trip to have paint scratches buffed out had become a trip to also find and seal roof leaks and repair/repaint damaged body panels, so Michele and I looked the coach over and discussed the work to be done. I was there about 90 minutes—a really short visit for me and Michele—and got back on the road for home around 2:30 PM.

I had originally planned to spend a few days at her shop working on some small projects of my own, but that was based on a Monday arrival.  We had plans to meet up with our friend Kate in Ypsilanti on Thursday evening to see Roy Blount, Jr. at Eastern Michigan University’s Pease Auditorium.  I made it home with just enough time to change clothes, but not to eat, and we headed off to Ypsi.  We got there just as Kate and her friend Teresa were arriving and got four seats together.  RBJr was very interesting to listen too when we could hear him and understand what he was saying.  He speaks somewhat softly, and the PA system for the auditorium was not adjusted properly to compensate for that.

After the event we headed over to the Sweetwater Café, just a short walk from the auditorium, for coffee.  They had some nice looking veggie rollup sandwiches, so Linda and I had a late/light dinner.  We finally got home around 11 PM, a long day for me.

Although my health is better than it has been for the last couple of decades, I do not pretend that I am not in my 6th decade.  I can still do the all-day-drive thing, but I am much more tired at the end of it, and it takes me multiple days to recover from it.

 

2013_10_25-31 (M-R) FOOD At The Phase Place!

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Sometimes I get busy and don’t keep up with my posts.  When I go back even as little as a week, as in this post, I find that many of the details are already lost in the continuous flow of daily living.

With the bus work in Williamston wrapped up, I turned my attention to figuring out what body panels and small parts I needed to order from Prevost to fix the damage I did to the passenger side of the bus leaving the campground in Townsend, TN.  I spent a fair amount of time in the Prevost CatBase Viewer database.  There were enough parts involved that I made an Excel spreadsheet.  I called Prevost U.S. Parts and got Roger Anderson on the line.  After discussing this for a while, we decided that it would be easiest for me to e-mail him the spreadsheet.

Next up was final preparations for the annual business meeting of our FMCA Freethinkers Associate Chapter (FTH), of which I am the vice-president and secretary.  There are a surprising number of documents that are involved in a simple meeting of a small group: an agenda (from the president), minutes from last year’s meeting, financial statements (which Linda and I prepare based on data from the treasurer), proposed amendments to the bylaws, and an updated roster.  All of these get converted to PDF files and uploaded to a folder in our Dropbox account.  I have provided a link to that folder to all of our members.

We made our usual trip to South Lyon on Saturday morning for breakfast with members of the South Lyon Amateur Radio Club (SLAARC).  Linda worked on recipes.  I installed the WP-Recipes plug-in and she has started using it to capture and publish recipes for some of our favorite whole-food plant-based (WFPB) dishes.  She is evening taking a photograph of the finished dish and adding it to the recipe page.  (Click on the Food & Health Tab and then on Recipes in the dropdown menu.)

While Linda worked on recipes I worked on WordPress websites.  Besides our own, I am working on websites for our FMCA Freethinkers Associate Chapter (FTH), our FMCA Great Lakes Converted Coaches Chapter (GLCC, of which Linda is the Treasurer), and our South Lyon Amateur Radio Club (SLAARC).

WordPress is constantly releasing updates and new versions.  This generally a good thing, but they always strongly advise that you backup your site (folders/files/database) before installing an upgrade.  I haven’t been doing that, so I decided on Saturday that I should.  The GLCC website is an add-on domain for our primary/personal site, so I was able to back it up using the backup utilities in the QTH.com cPanel.  The FTH website is hosted by iPower and the SLAARC website is hosted by GoDaddy, neither of which use cPanel nor appear to have built in backup utilities.  There is some provision for backup built in to WordPress.

When I used the cPanel backup utility to backup our primary/personal site and the GLCC site it was about 1 GB.  We only had 2.5 GB on our free Dropbox account, so I signed up for the 100 GB Dropbox plan.  I then went on a search for a WordPress plug-in that would do the backups on a schedule.  I selected WordPress Backup To Dropbox (WPB2D) and then installed and activated it on all four sites.  I am going to test it for a couple of weeks and see how it works.  I hope it works well as it is a very simple plug-in to use.

Our FTH meeting was scheduled as a conference call for 6:00 PM EDT on Sunday evening, October 27.  We have 40 memberships in the chapter and needed 10 to make a quorum.  6:00 PM came and went and at 6:15 PM we only had 8 people on the line.  The president polled the group and decided we would try again the next night; same time, same place.

Our SLAARC information net is held every Sunday evening at 8:00 PM.  I was a regular participant up until we moved to the new house.  Although I have our 2m/70cm base station antenna mounted on the old TV tower, I do not have the coax run to the ham shack in the basement.  Hooking up the radio is inconvenient, especially in cold/dark/wet conditions, all of which we now have.  I would like to have the ham shack set up and functioning, but it has not made it to the top of the list yet.

On Monday I drove the bus to W. W. Williams in Dearborn, Michigan to have them look at the auxiliary air system and the speedometer.  They thought the constant cycling of the main engine air-compressor was either the governor or the air-dryer purge valve.  Since the governor had just been replaced, I authorized replacing the purge valve.  They thought the speedometer issue was the “tone wheel”, the sensor, or the gauge.  The sensor was just replaced, so I authorized them to check that it was installed correctly and to pull the output shaft housing on the end of the transmission to check the tone wheel.

I called Roger back at Prevost U.S. Parts.  He had filled in my spreadsheet and prepared a Prevost quote, so he e-mail those back to me.  I decided to hold off ordering until Michele at Phoenix Paint has a chance to look at the damage and decide if she can fix it.

Linda and I had staked out the size/location of our planned bus barn and driveway.  We adjusted the stakes slightly, moving the barn 5 feet farther from the road and squaring it up.  It’s currently 32 ft. wide by 56 ft. long with a driveway that includes a spur for turning around.  Phil from Precision Grading came by Monday evening, measured the area, and dug a couple of test holes to see what soil conditions we had.  He said we had 13 inches of good top soil in that area.  This will have to be removed and replaced with crushed concrete and 21AA road gravel, so we discussed possible locations on our property for the top soil.  Some of it will go in a depressed area behind the proposed barn location.  This area forms a lake whenever we get heavy/persistent rain.  Some it will probably go on the west side of the main garage driveway, which currently drops off more than we would like, and somewhat unevenly.  There are also low spots on the far west end of our property, and some of the topsoil will likely go there.

I spent the rest of this period working on the various websites.  In particular, I finally figured out how to configure and use the WP-Members plug-in to restrict access to selected portions of a WordPress site based on a Username and Password.  With that feature working, I focused on design (structure) and content for the FTH and GLCC sites.  I got sidetracked on Halloween with the idea of installing a “slider” (automated slideshow) in place of the default graphic in the RESPONSIVE Theme I am using for the GLCC site.  I selected and installed Meteor Slides based on its demonstration by the authors of RESPONSIVE.  It had the appearance of being very simple to install and use, and it was/is once I figured it out.  It took me 5 hours to do that, but I did.  The site is not ready for viewing yet, but I will share the address when it is.

2013_10_24 (F) 50/50

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We were up early this morning as Linda had to go to the bakery today.  I stopped by the post office on my way to Williamston and arrived around 9:15 AM.  Joe was already working on the coach and I got busy working on some small items.  I needed some WD-40 and neither of us had any, so it was off to the store.  As long as I was out I picked up coffee at Panera.  Yum.

No, today was not a 50/50 raffle, although those seem to be regular features of large RV rallies and ham radio meetings.  Today was a day of even odds as to whether new parts would solve some nagging bus problems.  As of the end of the work day the score was parts 0, problems 2.  That doesn’t mean the day was wasted, not at all.  We have a new governor (pressure regulator/controller) on the main engine air compressor and a new speedometer sensor on the transmission.  We also had a new hub gasket on the driver-side drive axle and dynamic wheel balances on all six positions.  The chassis had been lubed, the side-view mirrors had been tightened, the entrance door latches were tightened, and the passenger-side engine compartment door latch assembly was lubricated, as were all of the bay key locks.  That’s a lot of stuff taken of.

The auxiliary air system, however, still bled down quickly to just under 100 PSI each time the air-dryer purged and then slowly built up pressure to 130 PSI and the repeated the cycle.  I called Joe as soon as I got home to let him know.  He called someone that he relies on for advice and was told that it was most likely the unloader valve in the head of the air compressor.  The valve is not an expensive part, but replacing it requires a lot of labor.  The air compressor is bolted to the transmission end of the main engine block and the head is tied in to the engine cooling system, so not only is it difficult to get to (in a bus), the coolant (antifreeze) has to be drained at least to the point where the air compressor head is empty so it can be removed without making a huge mess.  Ugh.

As for the transmission speed sensor, the speedometer continued its bizarre, random behavior as I drove.  It stayed at zero (0) MPH when I first started driving, as it usually does, then jumped around erratically independent of vehicle speed, then decided to sit at 85 MPH (maximum on the gauge) regardless of vehicle speed, and then jumped around a bit up there.  It never did settle in to the correct speed on the whole trip back.  In other words, exactly what it was doing before we changed the sensor.  Ugh, ugh.  But at least we know the problem is somewhere else.

Chuck drove out to Williamston from Novi and arrived just before 1:00 PM.  Joe needed to test drive the 2002 Prevost XL LeMirage he’d been working on, so he drive the three of us to lunch in it.  That was the first time I had ridden in an XL and the first time I had ridden in a converted coach powered by a Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine.  The ride was very nice and the engine obviously had a lot of torque.  The thing I noticed most, however, was how quiet it was without windshield and door gasket air leaks.

While Joe finished the front end work I finished putting trim back on the wheels, packed up my tools, and reloaded the car and the bays.  With all of the work done, Joe guided me out of the garage and I pulled around into the driveway where I could hook up the car without blocking anyone.  Eventually there was nothing left to do but pay Joe and leave, so that’s what I did.

Centramatic dynamic wheel balancer on driver-side front wheel.

Centramatic dynamic wheel balancer on driver-side front wheel.

I got back to house late afternoon, got the car unhooked, unloaded the bus and the car, stripped the bed, and started a load of laundry.  Retirement may mean that someone else fixes your bus, but it doesn’t mean that some else does your laundry.

I did not get a chance to winterize our coach while it was in Williamston.  Overnight low temperatures have been dropping down near freezing, and were forecast for the upper 20’s tonight.  The living area in the coach will stay above freezing just from retained heat and the heat put out by the refrigerator, but I was less sure about the bays.  There are still water lines in the front bay from the old combo washer/dryer so I turned on the electric bay heater.  The water tank bay does not have an electric heater, which I thought was odd, until I realized the Aqua-Hot is in test bay and has an electric heating element, so I turned that back on as well.

Linda left the bakery around 5:00 PM, which put her in the middle of the afternoon rush.  I’m not sure why it’s called rush hour since traffic mostly moves slowly or not at all.  While on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia last week we were reminded of similar reversals, made famous by George Carlin, such as why we drive on Parkways and park on driveways.  And we wonder why non-native speakers gave trouble with English?  I sat on the couch and worked on this blog posting and Juniper (our female cat) curled up beside and went to sleep; very unusual for her.  We had a heavy downpour of rain and sleet that lasted for 20 minutes, but Linda finally made it home at 6:37 PM.

Dinner was pan grilled onions and extra firm tofu slices in Bar-B-Que sauce served on a whole wheat bun with a mixed green salad, a few Tostitos whole grain dipping chips, salsa, and a small glass of white wine.  The odds of that being a really tasty meal were much higher than 50/50.  Simple yet simply delicious.

2013_10_23 (W) Williamston MI Bus Garage

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Today started out complicated but settled in as it progressed.  Linda had to babysit today as we were still out of town on Monday and our daughter took Monday instead.  Normally Linda would just get up and drive to Ann Arbor, but our son borrowed her car just before we left for Tennessee and still had it.  She could have taken my car had I not needed it.  But I did, so I got up early and drove her to Ann Arbor.  But first I started a load of laundry.  (Even retired people sometimes have to multitask in order to get everything done that needs doing.)

An early morning trip is always an excuse to stop at Panera, especially as we so rarely do this anymore.  Bagels and coffee in hand we were back on the road.  I’m not driving all the way to Ann Arbor and not see my grand-daughter, so stayed for a while and watched her play.  She is a very active 10-month old and was either looking at her book collection or crawling around the living/dining rooms the whole time.

I eventually headed back to the house, put the laundry in the dryer, cleaned the cats’ litter tray (but forgot to feed them), gathered up the various things I needed to take with me, loaded them in the car, and reconnected it go the bus.  The laundry wasn’t dry yet, so I spent some time repositioning the stakes that we placed last evening to mark the outline of the bus barn and driveway.  It took longer than I expected, but that’s almost always the case, so I am used to it, and OK with it.  I hung up the dried clothes and prepared to drive the bus some 40+ miles WNW to Williamston, Michigan.

The reason for the trip to Williamston was that our mobile mechanic, Joe Cannarozzi, was already there working on another customer’s coach.  The customer had a 2-bay bus garage with heat; no small thing given that overnight lows were forecast to hit freezing or below.  Joe had all of his tools unpacked there, and was staying in the customer’s coach, so it was a much better place for him (and me) to work than our driveway.

Joe was wrapping up a conversation with John, one of the seven (7) partners in the partnership that owns the coach, so I unhooked the car while they talked.  I got to meet John and see the coach, a Prevost XL-45 LeMIrage “entertainer” conversion.  It was a nice conversion and they have had Joe do a fair amount of work on it.  John had never seen a motorhome bus conversion, so I gave him a brief tour of ours.  I also showed him the generator bay as they are also facing a soundproofing redo.  As a token of appreciation for letting Joe work on our bus in their garage, I gave John copies of the February and May 2013 issues of Bus Conversions Magazine and the summer issue of The Gypsy Journal.

Joe and John concluded their business and I 3-point turned the bus and pulled it into the left bay of the garage.  I then pulled my car into the other bay.  We unloaded tools and parts, raised the bus high enough to get the stands under it, and set it down on them.  Joe needed food so we went to get lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant.  Joe had a full meal while I had a salad of dark greens (mostly spinach) with sun-dried tomatoes and olives and a homemade Italian dressing.  It was quite good.

Linda called to let me know that two boxes had arrived from Prevost as promised.  I asked her to drive them out to where we were, which she did.  Joe then put me to work removing the “beauty rings” and lug nut bling from the wheels, after which he started removing the outside dual tires/wheels and the tag axle tires/wheels so he could install the Centramatic dynamic wheel balances.

While Joe muscled the tires around I dug out my metric hex wrench set and tightened the outside rear view mirrors.  (Prevost Car, Inc. is located in Saint Claire, Quebec, Canada and their coaches are an interesting mix of U.S. and metric parts.)  The passenger-side mirror, in particular, had been just loose enough for a long time that it vibrated while driving (slightly irritating) and wouldn’t hold its position (very irritating), dropping down beyond the limits of its remote adjustability to the point where I couldn’t use it to see down that side of the coach (dangerous).  Like many “little things”, however, I kept forgetting to fix it once we got home as we are very busy immediately after returning from a trip.

I opened the garage door to call Linda and check on her progress only to discover that it was raining lightly and watched the rain turn to snow right before my eyes.  When I arrived there was a little bit of graupel falling.  Welcome to Michigan in October.

Linda arrived with the parts, visited for a few minutes, and headed back to work on thank you cards for our open house guests.  Joe removed the driver-side outside drive tire, examined the oil leak evidence, and said he thought I only had a gasket leak.  He pulled the axle flange and we discovered that it didn’t have an axle flange gasket.  The last time someone worked on it (before we owned it) they used “form-a-seal”, a thick liquid that you squirt out of a tube like caulk or toothpaste, and it was obvious that there were areas where no effective seal existed.  Joe said that this is a “common” practice, but his preference was to use the appropriate gasket, several of which I now have in stock.

We cleaned off the remnants of the old form-a-seal and then Joe reassembled the hub, installed the wheel balancer, and reinstalled the outer dual tire.  I cleaned the oil from the inside of the beauty ring, as we did not want the old oil residue making us think we still had a leak, and then Joe reinstalled that as well.  We were short one washer, it was late, and Joe was tired, so we called it a day.  I packed up and left, taking one of the washers with me so I could buy more of the correct size.

I stopped at the Home Depot in Brighton, found the split-ring lock washers I needed, and finally got home around 8:30 PM.  Linda had picked up an Amy’s Roasted Vegetable pizza.  It is absolutely the best vegan pizza I have ever had.  It was real treat and a good end to a good day.

2013_10_20 (N) The Blue Ridge Parkway, VA

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The Beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway headed south.

The Beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway headed south.

After breakfast we arranged ourselves in Ron and Mary’s Honda mini-van and around 10 AM headed up I-81 towards Waynesboro, Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We had beautiful blue skies, with no threat of rain and highs forecast to be in the 60’s.  We exited I-81 N at US-250 and headed east through Waynesboro to the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Our merry little band of intrepid hikers.

Our merry little band of intrepid hikers.

Our first destination was the Visitor Center at Humpback Rocks.  We spent a few minutes there looking at the indoor exhibits and used the “facilities.”  We set Marilyn up in a comfy chair with her book.  Ron, Mary, Linda, and I then walked through the period farmstead on our way to the Humpback Rocks Trailhead.

 

Interior of an early 19th century mountain farmstead cabin.

Interior of an early 19th century mountain farmstead cabin.

The Humpback Rocks are a rock outcropping near the top of a mountain that requires a 0.8 mile hike with a 900 ft vertical elevation gain.  Most of the trial was in excellent shape considering the number of hikers who were using it.  It was entirely wooded, with natural rock “stairs” in some places and steps that clearly showed the hand of man, but were very well done.  Parts of the trail near the top were wet and the rocks were slippery but passable.

Mary, Ron, and Linda on the Humpback Rocks.

Mary, Ron, and Linda on the Humpback Rocks.

The Humpback Rocks are devoid of trees and provided a panoramic view of the valley to the west and the mountains beyond spanning more than 180 degrees from south to east of north.  Unfortunately, we were there around noon to 1 PM and the lighting was not ideal for photographing the valley and mountains.  We spent an hour up there enjoying the view anyway before heading down.

 

Linda, Ron, and Mary on the Humpback Rocks.

Linda, Ron, and Mary on the Humpback Rocks.

The hike down was harder in some ways than the hike up.  Uphill hikes are generally about leg muscles, but the pace is naturally slower and it’s not too hard to find good footing.  Downhill hikes are about impact on joints, and footing is tricky, especially on the wet/slippery rocks we had to deal with in a few spots along the way.  Ron and Mary use adjustable hiking poles, and had an extra one for Linda, which she needed.  I should have used one, but didn’t.  We have a pair of adjustable poles at home, left over from a previous era of winter camping and cross country ski backpacking, but we added a new pair for each of us to our “next time” list.

We made it back to the Visitor Center around 2 PM and had a picnic lunch that we had packed that morning, rested for a while in the warm sun, and eventually made ready to continue down the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A red berry bush along the Blue Ridge Parkway, VA.

A red berry bush along the Blue Ridge Parkway, VA.

The rest of the afternoon we drove south along the Parkway, stopping at some of the scenic overlooks to overlook the scenery and take photographs.  The time of day and angle of the sun were not ideal for photography, but that did not take anything away from the views.

We exited the Parkway at US-60 and headed south through Buena Vista on US-501 to Natural Bridge, where we vectored off on VA-130 over to US-11 N and drove the few miles back to the entrance to the Natural Bridge / Lexington KOA.

Tonight was Linda’s turn to prepared dinner and she opted to make her Farro with mushrooms which is a favorite of mine.  She added leafy greens to the leftover salad from the night before, and served the dish with whole grain bread.  A little wine helped wash everything down.  Ron, Mary, and Marilyn finished the pie from the previous evening and Mary sliced up some fresh strawberries for me and Linda.  Ron and I did the dishes, after which we started a campfire and sat around until late in the evening talking and enjoying our last night in camp together.