May 26 - June 4, 2013 - 33 foot Coachmen Motor Home and more...

We've worked in a couple of trips to Kalispell to stock up on stuff and make purchases for building projects.  We haven't been too good about taking photos though.  The weather has been yucky (rain, rain, and more rain) for the most part.

Scott and I have been burning brush piles.  We called the Forest Service for a burn permit and it was in our mailbox the same day.  They must have driven it down to the post office (about two miles)!  We tried burning the next morning but I'd get one torched then it would pour down rain and we'd head inside.  Fifteen minutes later the sky was clear so we torched another then it began to rain again.  We finally headed into Eureka to get some things we needed and gave up on working outside.  I was amused by the questions asked by the ranger to get our burning permit (typical questions such as if we had water available, tools, how many adults would be there, etc.) to ensure that the fire didn't get away from us.  Right now I don't think we could set the woods on fire with napalm.

In the meantime we've done a lot more cleaning up.  One more full load of trash to the dump.  Moved the lawn ornament (boat) we had in the play area for the grandkids to play on.  Tilled up a little more ground in the garden.

We purchased four-season tent form a local (Kalispell) mountaineering store.  It's a four person tent and set us back about $800.00.  We decided it was time to purchase some quality gear now that we have the money.  We got tired of tents shredding in the wind (Nevada), leaking, etc. so we looked for one that would take the wind and last a lifetime.  We got the four person size to have room for Scott as he grows up.

I tore down the small greenhouse we started on and am in the process of putting another small one together in its place.  This one will be of wood and a permanent structure (we'll be able to move it later if we desire).  Scott and I finished the framing yesterday (okay, Scott played in the dirt and I did the framing).

We finally purchased a set of air shocks for the Cherokee.  The rear springs are weak (made for a smooth ride instead of a work vehicle like we use it for) and we've been threatening to put overload springs or air shocks on it.  With the air shocks we can make adjustments for the size of the load and they were cheaper than overload springs.  I could have added springs from other project leftovers but I don't have time for that right now.

 

On one of our trips to Kalispell we went to the park with Scott and his mom/dad.  Scott's getting more and more "experimental" on the equipment.



 

He was laughing himself silly over going down the slide this way.

 

Susan was doing some drawings/artwork for one of her books and Scott found the markers.  He went running over to Susan and said, "pretty" then held out his hands to show her. his artwork.  At least he kept it all on his hands and not on the wall, table or other furniture.

 

 

He doesn't sit for long.  It's evening and we're watching a movie on the boob-tube while Scott does his gymnastics.

 

 

After our time in Nevada this year we decided that we need a larger RV so we've been keeping an eye on Craigslist among other places.  We answered this ad for an 84 Coachmen, 33 foot motor home.  The body/interior is in good shape as is the drive train.  The generator and batteries were stolen at it's previous home in Washington state by people who moved into it where it was stored.   When they were evicted they took the generator and batteries with them.  The starter needs work as does the carburetor.  The windshield wiper blades are gone as well.  Everything else appears to be okay.  I can do the mechanical repairs myself and the generator isn't a big deal since we plan on using solar power and an inverter for the most part.

 

We're planning on doing some volunteer work at Lake Mead this coming winter and they'll furnish a pad with all hook-ups if we want it.  We just needed more room for Scott. We gave $3,000 for it and it cost us nearly $300.00 to purchase permanent license plates but we'll never have to license it again.  It (and the tent) sure made a dent in our savings but will be worth it in the long run.  It will probably be stored in Nevada most of the time and we'll just drive while down there and use it during the winter.  It's much too large for use around here.  We have our U-Haul for that.

 

Looking forward from the bedroom in back...

 

 

 

...and back from the front.

 

 

Scott in place once we finally convinced him that he wasn't driving and Susan got to ride shotgun.

 

 

Highway 93 north just a few miles from where we turn west.

 

 

Susan has been working furiously to finish up some more books.  We can't get much done outside due to weather so she's been going full-bore on her writing.  I do most of mine form 5:30 am to 7:00 am before everyone else gets up.  Once Scott is awake it takes one of us to keep track of him although now that he's older he sticks around better.

 

On one of our trips to Kalispell we picked up our chickens from our daughter's house.  She kept them over the winter while we were gone.  I cleaned out the chicken house and put in new straw.  We read in the paper that grizzly/chicken problems are on the rise.  Seems that the bears are taking a liking to chickens and chicken feed.  We'll have to sleep with one ear tuned for the dog's barking.

 

Someone gave us a Pelican Canoe a few years ago.  The bottom had collapsed due to snow load and poor design so I finally got around to ripping out the interior reinforcement (that didn't work) and installed a thin-walled pipe (scrounged from the dump) and bracing from it to the seats.  That pushed the bottom back out where it should be.  For the bracing I used two, 1x8 boards braced under the seat.  I put two, 2x3x7 inch boards between the 1x8's to hold them apart and in place.  Now we need to go try it out!

 

Barbequed chicken last night.

 

 

This is Susan's Weed-Eater.  It's her favorite but we can't find parts for it anymore.  I put a new plug in it and cleaned the carb and got it running again.  Hopefully it will stay that way (running!).  I need to do my Homelite next because it has the brush blade on it.  It should only need new gas and a spark plug. 

The Echo weed-eater we bought a few years ago still works but we hated the head on it.  Instead of feeding a spool of string it used individual pieces about 8 inches long.  It seemed that we were always replacing the string and we used a lot more due to the 2-3 inches that never wears down in the head.  I took the old string head from my Homelite and adapted it to the Echo so now it has a "feed type" head on it.  I had to drill out the center bolt on the Homelite head then re-thread it to fit on the Echo.  Now I can return the universal head we bought at Walmart for $17.99.