If it rained overnight we were unaware of it. We awoke to gray, overcast skies, our 3rd day in a row of such conditions. As patches of blue started to appear it also started to rain lightly, and the darker gray clouds moving in from the west seemed to suggest more to come. Blue skies and rain seem to be another one of those “western” things we don’t see too often in Michigan.
Before we went to sleep last night we studied the program offerings for today and did not see much of interest to us. Nicer weather might have led to some work on the coach, but we decided to take one more stroll through the inside vendors and just hang out waiting for Marty Stuart’s evening concert.
We picked up another LED spotlight bulb from Jirah for the other bedroom reading light. These are the first bulbs we have found with necks that are long enough to fit in the aircraft-style swivel down lights. We were given two “Bonus Bucks” coupons by someone at the FMCA booth each good for $5 off the price of anything for sale in the vendor area. Linda found an FMCA T-shirt for $12 and bought it for $2. We picked up three roles of Rescue Tape, a non-adhesive tape that can be used to make temporary repairs on almost anything, including fuel lines, hydraulic lines, air lines, and electrical connections. We also bought a bottle of RV Digest-It from Unique Products, as we were running out of the Thetford Eco-Smart enzyme product. Their natural formulation products are available nationwide and their product line includes products for treating septic systems.
We also had a good discussion with the factory representative from Winegard antenna. We had been looking at Winegard’s ANSER and CARRYOUT portable antennas as well as the ViewCube and Tailgater (Dish Network) but decided to defer any decisions until we get home as we need to set up satellite TV there too.
While perusing the vendors we ran into Pat & Vickie Lintner again (from our GLCC chapter) and had a nice long chat. They have used Direct TV for years, both at home and in their RV, and are quite satisfied with it. We are leaning towards Dish Network as they appear to be more RV friendly, at least in terms of how they package/price their system, but this is not the prevailing opinion of the RVers we have talked to.
We also stopped at C & C Marketing to talk to Chris Yust about an insurance quote. At the fall 2010 Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, OH she was not able to write policies for Michigan residents, but expanded their market to include Michigan in 2011. We are currently insured with National Interstate of Hawaii (which we are not happy about after Nick & Terry Russell’s very negative experience with them) through Miller Insurance (Cheryl Howarth) out of Oregon (with whom we are quite pleased). Our insurance renews in September, so it was a good time to get a quote from Chris.
Done with our RV shopping, we decided to go to the grocery store. Our GPS brought up a list and we selected a nearby Albertson’s, a western chain that we do not have in the Great Lakes region. As we were leaving the store we noticed a long N-S line of very ominous (not to be confused with omnibus) looking dark clouds. By the time we got back to our coach it had started raining. Shortly thereafter the storm blew in full force with 60 MPH winds, torrential horizontal rain, and pea size hail. We scrambled to close and latch all of the windows, but had two awnings out that we could not put in until the storm let up. Fortunately they were a small and medium window awing, and not the large patio awning. I waited until the storm let up a bit, and then went out in the wind, rain, and hail and put the two awnings up. Hey, it’s all part of the full/extended-time RV experience. When the weather turns suddenly bad, there is often no place to hide, and no time to get there even if there is. Linda checked the weather on her smartphone, which revealed a line of very strong storms moving through northeast Wyoming. We had obviously been hit by one of the severe thunderstorm cells. We were also under a tornado watch for three hours.
We knew we still had some minor leaks in the coach around windshields and windows. Most of them reappeared but were manageable. We also discovered a small drip at the outside front corner of the passenger side front skylight. We have had a drip there before, and thought it was taken care of when we replaced the dome on the Fan-tastic vent fan, which was crazed and cracked. I recalled that when replacing the dome it did not seal around the edges of the housing like I thought it should, so it’s possible that water was pooling &/or splashing up under the lip. But that is all speculation until we can inspect it and figure out what’s going on.
Once the storm let up we went looking for our two cats. Juniper emerged rather quickly, but Jasper was nowhere to be seen. He likes to hide when he’s uncomfortable with a situation, and his favorite spot in the coach is under the dinette, although it is not a particularly good place for him to be. We thought we had that area sealed off, but when Juniper started sniffing intently around there we figured that was where he hid. And sure enough, he had! At this point we have no idea how he got in there, as we thought we had all points of entry sealed.
The rain and wind eventually quit and I went out to check for damage. The bus is parked facing due west and the storm came from that direction. The windshields and front cap were undamaged, and the head of the searchlight was still attached to the base. Inspection for roof damage would have to wait for safer conditions.
Although we did not do much this afternoon, it was not a relaxing one. BTW: With the passage of the storm, the temperature at 5:00 PM had dropped to 46 degrees F!
After dinner we went over to the Central Pavilion (indoors) for the Marty Stuart concert, which was moved there from the Morningside Park grandstand (outside) due to the weather. Because the grounds had become quite muddy we finally used the trams. In spite of a number of coaches leaving early, and the generally disagreeable weather, the concert was well attended and appreciated by the audience, to the point that the band came back to do an encore and stuck around to sell CDs and sign autographs. Although we are not fans of country music, Marty and his group were very good, with a high level of musicianship. They did a range of music from bluegrass to traditional county, contemporary country, and gospel. They did a mix of vocals with tight harmonies, and intricate instrumentals. Marty performed years ago with Johnny Cash, and has a similar “sound.” They put a lot of energy into their show and they seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing, which was then reflected by the crowd.
BTW: The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day event started at 2 PM EDT today, and runs for 24 hours. We did not bring our HF equipment, and we have been too preoccupied to even turn on the 2 M handi-talkie. I did wear my 2011 ARRL Field Day shirt, however, in recognition of event.
Yesterday was also my dad’s birthday but I didn’t have a chance to call him, so I did that today. He turned 88.