A Break.
The wife is out of town, so I had childcare duties. This meant riding anywhere except for the garage was pretty much out of question.
Thursday rolled around and the youngest didn't have preschool for two days, and I kept the daughter home as well. So, instead of riding the trainer I installed solar panels and re-wired pretty much the entire electrical system in the RV. I love a good project, and I buried myself in it.
After working for a solid seven hours, I quickly packed the kids up with a change of clothes and their iPads, made a quick stop at the grocery store, and drove the RV down the Seward highway with a vague idea of where I was going to end up. By the time we hit Bird Point, the rain was already coming down steadily. Stubbornly I pressed on, hoping it would pass. It didn't. When we got to Portage, all of the state campgrounds were still closed. I did find a nice pull-out next to the river, but the rain picked up a bit and it started to snow. The youngest and I threw rocks in the water for a while (because that's what you do) and my big goofy lab played, while the daughter stayed warm and dry in the camper. I knew this site wasn't going to work, so we pulled out and headed back north.
As the kids dozed in the back, I tried a couple different places, and eventually settled on the Eagle River campground, which isn't all that bad this time of year (it can get very, very crowded and noisy during the summer). The kids were conked out, so I had plenty of time to get the fire started and pull out the chairs for them. They had no idea where we were when I woke them, but a campfire, hotdogs, and s'mores were pretty much all they needed to be content.
A fired up the furnace and set it for a reasonable temperature, then we all climbed up into the loft and fell asleep, snug under 4000 blankets. Sounds nice, right? It would have been, if my youngest wasn't a bed hog. Around 2:00 AM I found myself pressed uncomfortably against the wall, my back screaming from the contortions I had worked myself into. A little re-positioning and I eventually was asleep again.
Then, at 4:30AM, the propane alarm started chirping. It was about that time that I realized the furnace fan was running continuously but the burner wasn't lit. The excess gas was just slowly leaking out, which set off the alarm. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to make the detector chirp until I opened the door and let the propane out. Of course, since it was just above freezing, opening the door also let out whatever heat we generated. Eventually I gave up on getting the furnace to work that night and shut the propane supply off. 4000 blankets seemed to be sufficient to keep us warm.
The next day I started playing with the furnace, and found out the contacts on the 35 year old thermostat had reached the end of their life-cycle. A little Jerry-rigging got the heat back on, and the kids and I enjoyed a nice, quiet morning lazing around until the world warmed up sufficiently. Then we went for a long walk along the river, stopping occasionally to throw rocks (because that's what you do). When we returned, a few minutes of cleanup and we were headed back home, test run complete.
A quick replacement of the thermostat fixed the only issue I could find with the RV on this short trip, and a few small projects added a bit more functionality to the world. It still looks like a meth lab on the outside, but on the inside it's certainly coming along. After fixing and tweaking and generally puttering around, I didn't have the time or energy to get on the bike. I wasn't worried about it, because I had gotten enough done.
Saturday I had to write a ten-page paper for my ethics class, so I didn't ride either. The mother-in-law took the kids, so I had the opportunity. However, it was raining on and off, and the wind was kicking, so I wasn't really enthused. Instead, I went out to a restaurant, wrapped myself around a tall beer and a steak, and called it a night.
Sunday I rode. Two and a half hours into the wind and rain. You know what? It wasn't bad.
Thursday rolled around and the youngest didn't have preschool for two days, and I kept the daughter home as well. So, instead of riding the trainer I installed solar panels and re-wired pretty much the entire electrical system in the RV. I love a good project, and I buried myself in it.
After working for a solid seven hours, I quickly packed the kids up with a change of clothes and their iPads, made a quick stop at the grocery store, and drove the RV down the Seward highway with a vague idea of where I was going to end up. By the time we hit Bird Point, the rain was already coming down steadily. Stubbornly I pressed on, hoping it would pass. It didn't. When we got to Portage, all of the state campgrounds were still closed. I did find a nice pull-out next to the river, but the rain picked up a bit and it started to snow. The youngest and I threw rocks in the water for a while (because that's what you do) and my big goofy lab played, while the daughter stayed warm and dry in the camper. I knew this site wasn't going to work, so we pulled out and headed back north.
As the kids dozed in the back, I tried a couple different places, and eventually settled on the Eagle River campground, which isn't all that bad this time of year (it can get very, very crowded and noisy during the summer). The kids were conked out, so I had plenty of time to get the fire started and pull out the chairs for them. They had no idea where we were when I woke them, but a campfire, hotdogs, and s'mores were pretty much all they needed to be content.
A fired up the furnace and set it for a reasonable temperature, then we all climbed up into the loft and fell asleep, snug under 4000 blankets. Sounds nice, right? It would have been, if my youngest wasn't a bed hog. Around 2:00 AM I found myself pressed uncomfortably against the wall, my back screaming from the contortions I had worked myself into. A little re-positioning and I eventually was asleep again.
Then, at 4:30AM, the propane alarm started chirping. It was about that time that I realized the furnace fan was running continuously but the burner wasn't lit. The excess gas was just slowly leaking out, which set off the alarm. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to make the detector chirp until I opened the door and let the propane out. Of course, since it was just above freezing, opening the door also let out whatever heat we generated. Eventually I gave up on getting the furnace to work that night and shut the propane supply off. 4000 blankets seemed to be sufficient to keep us warm.
The next day I started playing with the furnace, and found out the contacts on the 35 year old thermostat had reached the end of their life-cycle. A little Jerry-rigging got the heat back on, and the kids and I enjoyed a nice, quiet morning lazing around until the world warmed up sufficiently. Then we went for a long walk along the river, stopping occasionally to throw rocks (because that's what you do). When we returned, a few minutes of cleanup and we were headed back home, test run complete.
A quick replacement of the thermostat fixed the only issue I could find with the RV on this short trip, and a few small projects added a bit more functionality to the world. It still looks like a meth lab on the outside, but on the inside it's certainly coming along. After fixing and tweaking and generally puttering around, I didn't have the time or energy to get on the bike. I wasn't worried about it, because I had gotten enough done.
Saturday I had to write a ten-page paper for my ethics class, so I didn't ride either. The mother-in-law took the kids, so I had the opportunity. However, it was raining on and off, and the wind was kicking, so I wasn't really enthused. Instead, I went out to a restaurant, wrapped myself around a tall beer and a steak, and called it a night.
Sunday I rode. Two and a half hours into the wind and rain. You know what? It wasn't bad.
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