October Updates

This post is pretty mundane; just a collection of notes about projects and activities of the past week.

I’ve been working on The Box and managed to replace all 3 roof vent covers. All were either cracked from a hail storm or, in one case, a chunk had been broken out. The job was not too bad  and took about 20 minutes per vent but it did involve me getting on the roof of The Box and I am not comfortable on roofs. I’m glad to have that particular project done.

Other minor repairs have also been completed. One of the window shades had died  and would no longer go up and I fixed it. (When we first bought The Box a few shades had the same problem and I had contacted the manufacturer about fixing them and they sent me repair instructions.) Another repair involved the outside lights; one of them had a frozen on-off switch and would not turn on. It works now, giving us some outside light should we need it. I ran RV anti-freeze through the pipes to finish winterizing the plumbing. Pam removed all the food and bedding and we even took the mattress out and put it in the sun for a few hours. I tracked down and replaced a blown fuse that had caused my phone charger to quit working. Only a few tasks remain, including replacement of a cracked sky light and getting new front stabilizer jacks. Once I get the parts it will be only a matter of a couple hours to finish these repairs. Hopefully it will warm up enough to “set” the skylight sealant after I get it installed — or that job may have to wait until spring.

Pam has also been busy. She transplanted the bulbs that were in our hanging flower pots into our regular flower beds, and cleaned the beds of no-longer-needed summer growth.  The lilacs were interfering with me getting on the roof of The Box so Pam took her loppers and trimmed these bushes as well. It made getting up and down The Box’s ladder a much easier task.

Daughter Felicity arrived Tuesday night via the Grand Junction airport. She will be here for a couple of weeks while Pam and I take our 40th anniversary vacation trip, a long-planned event. Felicity will be caring for the cats and dogs and watching the place while we’re gone. Since she works on-line she can continue to do her work from anywhere she can get an internet connection, so this visit won’t interrupt her job. As of Thursday morning one of the cats, Sunny, was still hissing at Felicity but all the other animals have “adopted” her with no issues.

Pam and I will fly into New Orleans and play tourist, visiting the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. After that we plan a leisurely trip visiting beachy tourist areas while we head to Florida (via rental car) where we plan to visit our good friends Mary and Jeff Hayes. Epcot center is on the “to visit” list. We’ll also go south to the Keys and perhaps visit the Everglades. I’ve never been to this part of the country and am looking forward to the trip. (EPCOT is an acronym for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.”)

This means no posts for a couple weeks, but when we get back I should have a lot of photos and experiences to share.

We’ve had frost a couple of nights, leaves are beginning to fall on our lawn, and Halloween decorations are appearing on some houses and in yards. Pumpkins are on sale everywhere. I put new filters in the furnace and vacuumed out the floor vents. (We turned on the furnace the night of the 14th.) Fall is here. I’m not sure I am ready for it; I miss my summer weekends in the mountains.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Totally tourists, that will be our motto for the upcoming adventure. We may never pass through the Gulf Coast states again; if this is our one shot, we’d best make it a good one.

Happy Trails.