A Different Life II

[Al and Missy]

HI Maggie,
Enjoying riding along with you. That is a loop we hope to do soon, like maybe next year.

Regarding your propane stuff - whenever the tanks are filled, the person filling is supposed to check them for a certification date. If I remember correctly the original certification is stamped into the top ring, and is good for 10 or maybe 15 years at which time they are supposed to be inspected. Some large propane suppliers provide that service for a nominal fee, and will put a sticker on the ring indicating they have been inspected. Take them when they are empty, because they will empty them in the process. The certification fee usually includes a fill as well. Tanks so inspected are good, I think, for 5 more years before you have to do it again. As for your hoses, just flex them and look for cracks. Check joints with soapy water. If you see bubbles, the joint is leaking. At that point, you probably want to get professional help.

Enjoy your trip. I'm envious; the drywall guy was here yesterday and today and will need two or three more trips to finish. Then we have tile to get put in and then new bathroom vanities. We are probably stuck here for at least another month.

Al

[Lily&Me]

Hi Al, and thanks for all that information.

I asked the young man who filled my tank yesterday if everything looked okay, and he said he could see nothing as it was "all boxed in".

Probably needs to be accessed from underneath, and I just may try to have that done the next time I am needing a fill.

I see no sticker, it may also be underneath.

Sorry you are housebound, and hope you can get to traveling soon.

Doug and I spent just a day or two in Vermont a number of years ago, and I remember going to Cabot Cheese , but I have gotten a good look at a lot of backroads...some packed dirt...and many small towns.

All the towns were founded after 1770 or so. It's been fun, and the bridges are great...very well kept, and most still in use via weight limits.

We stopped at one today, near a house, and hanging flower baskets were on each side of both ends.

Lovely.

Hugs to you and your sweet wife.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Reading in bed, with a candle lit.

I do love my Interstate.

[DIR1]

I love your interstate too!!!

[paiceman]

Maggie:

Al is correct, it's ten years and no up to date certification sticker and the facility is not supposed to fill any propane tank that does not have one.

The large propane companies are usually the ones authorized to do the inspection and issue the sticker.

Bud

[Lily&Me]

Thanks, Bud...it's on my to-do list.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We were able yesterday to get an electric site for two nights at the Winhall Pond COE campground…your typical COE, lovely, well tended, showers, and paved inner roads which are great for bike riding.

Weak to no signal “down here" in the campground, tho, it laying along a shallow and rocky river bed that is not only delightful to look at but perfect for dogs and humans to play in.

Would have strived for no electric, but my 12volt adapter that allows me to charge plug-in items such as my hand-held vacuum isn't working for some reason. It hasn't been used since Doug died, so maybe the extremes in temps took it down at some point.

But for that, driving charges everything and by carefully conserving battery I can easily go a couple of nights before having to recharge in some manner.

My vacuum, however, was an excuse to ask for electricity…I could brush everything by hand, to remove much of the dog hair and other debris carried in, but the vacuum is so much more thorough, and it was completely dead.

I mixed my first loaf this trip of artisan bread yesterday, having done something differently for travel this time by mixing the dry ingredients for a half dozen loaves in quart ziplock bags…so much less mess than measuring it all out each time.

I've been afraid to make it, for fear I would forget about the new caps on my two front teeth and a bite into a crusty, chewy piece would pull one off….hundreds of miles from my dentist.

I have found, however, that I am very aware of their presence when biting into something, so decided to take the plunge, as I've missed my own bread. Yum…pan bread for breakfast this morning.

It has been cold and raining all morning, so we are pretty much staying in to read, cook, and crochet….Lily catching up on her beauty sleep, snoring on the couch as I type.

Little fake fire is humming merrily....

Some down time was needed, and good.

Maggie

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Did laundry, a little shopping, and gave the Interstate a good scrub this morning, then drove down Michigan's thumb to Port Huron Township park...which is absolutely lovely.



Neat as a pin, plenty of trees, with white fencing and beautiful hanging baskets of flowers on each of the campground buildings.



They have Bingo tonight, and a campground-wide garage sale tomorrow.



Going to be here two nights...roads are level and bladed, so bike riding will happen.



Maggie

Maggie

I grew up in Michigan so I love all the fresh water. On my bucket list is to start in Port Huron and go along the coast staying at the city/county parks all the way to Mackinac. There have got to be at least 15 of them and all on Lake Huron.

Dan

[Lily&Me]

Hi Dan, and good to hear from you! Tell your sweet wife hello.

THere are lots of lovely city parks around the Great Lakes, and this Interstate has been to a great many of them.

If you're one who needs 4 or 5 point hookups each night, however, that is not what most of these are.... but, we never did, electricity and a view of the lake being plenty for we landlocked midwesterners.

I highly recommend particularly the Lake Superior shore...spectacularly beautiful.

On another note...yesterday, it was chilly and raining, and late in the day I noticed water in my bathroom. A puddle of water.

Drying things out to locate the cause, rainwater was coming in thru a tiny hole in the caulk in a seam above the toilet. Not the plumbing, but the roof.

I was not pleased, my roof having just been "professionally" cleaned and re-caulked at significant expense to me, and had the hole in the caulk not allowed leaking into the bathroom from water running down the other side, I would have been unaware there was a leak at all.

Went into Vermont RV Sales near Brattleboro, and begged for a small bit of help for a temporary fix, and they gave it to me. Kudos to them.

I sent my IPad onto the roof with the service guy, to take pictures of the caulking I already knew was sloppily done, and whatever he found to be the cause of the leak. Sigh.

They were rather aghast at the job done on the caulking, found the problem, did some recaulking, and I sent the invoice along with photos of the roof to the service manager at Cummins Crosspoint who did the job in early June.

They are going to pay to have it completely redone, back at Vermont RV, and reimburse me the expense from this morning. Vermont RV can't get me in til next week, tho, so I will toodle around some more and come back.

You know, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect professional behavior from professionals....when a person is tasked with jobs requiring their particular professional and/or technical expertise, they ought to do their jobs and do them correctly. How hard is that.

I am going to have to go with a more anal approach to service repairs in the future, I've decided....

I don't want to, but I think I have to. Mimi has been telling me this.

All that aside, Vermont is a beautiful state, hilly and green and full of charming small towns with gorgeous old homes. I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

After the roof is redone, going to probably head back into NY and perhaps be there for darling daughters 41st birthday.

Settled into a nice PA campground in Brattleboro for the night, and getting my tires rotated in the am before moving on.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The Amazing Miss Emma turned 10 today, and texted me (they all have phones, of course, tho restricted to certain hours and functions) at 7:22am that as of 7:19 she was 10 years old...a double digit age, a big deal for kids these days.

Emma, 10 going on at least 15.

She's a dolly, tho, and loves her Grandma...we had a FaceTime chat in honor of her birthday. What a sweetie, and growing up so very fast.

One of the fun things about them all having phones is that I can send them pictures via text, directly to them.

They love that, and have Grandma on FindMyFrienda so they can see where I am any time they like.

Sigh. What an age we live in.


Maggie

[DIR1]

Wow, that roof leak!!! You sure take it all in stride nicely... keep having fun!! Hugs and love and pats from here.. and it's still nice weather!!.. loving it !!!

[Lily&Me]

Hi Gail....the fact is, stuff happens, at home or on the road, and getting too much in a twit about it helps nothing.

Just focus on the problem, and on getting it resolved.

I've been working on being more patient, and am greatly so, which helps. I look at things as a test, which I need to pass.

In my former high-pressure job, one was always working hard to complete whatever, knowing that at any moment the s--t could hit the fan and derail plans for many days.

I'm still working to leave behind what Doug referred to as "self-imposed pressure"...very functional in my former job, not so much in everyday life.

A process, and not an event.

The service manager at Cummins would have liked me to wait to have the roof re-done until I returned home in October, but I was not willing to do that...more leaks would have likely developed, creating more urgent patches and stop-gaps. Why put myself thru that.

He did share with me that there have been a couple of known issues recently with the longtime employee who did my roof...he doesn't seem to be a man asleep at the switch of management, and promises to find the reason and bring resolution, but I'm not going back there any time soon.

I need to find a way to look at my roof myself, for lots of reasons...but one being the obvious, that as owner and keeper the state of my Interstate is more dear to me than to anyone else who might look at it.

I have this very physical reaction to heights, tho....

Getting my tires rotated at 9 this morning, and going to learn how to check brake fluid.

Mimi will be glad.

This is a very, very nice PA campground, and I'm going to stay here until Friday...when the 50% discount ends.

Maggie

[Hittenstiehl]

Your phone on a selfie stick set on video will do a reasonably good job of showing you the roof of your beloved interstate (I can't remember if it has a name) as you walk around it.

Parking next to a loading dock when a store is closed and standing on the loading dock might also work.

Grandkids on ladders with phone and video.

How about a drone video, that sounds like fun and something a tech person would get a kick out of.

Safe travels, enjoying your trip reports.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

Your phone on a selfie stick set on video will do a reasonably good job of showing you the roof of your beloved interstate (I can't remember if it has a name) as you walk around it.

I carry a selfie stick in my Airstream for exactly that purpose. It's also good for inspecting the underside so you don't have to crawl underneath on your back.

I bought a selfie stick that came with a Bluetooth remote control for the phone's video camera, which helps. And I mount the camera backwards in the stick, so I'm using the back-mounted camera, which has higher resolution than the camera on the screen side of the phone.

[Lily&Me]

Good suggestions, folks, and thank you.

The RV place yesterday found this on my roof, and covered it with caulk until I can get it repaired....I can't bear to look at it, and barely to speak of it.

This is an antennae...the area will need to be cut out, and replaced, I am told.

No one had been on the roof in 3 years, and no, the guy who did the abysmal caulking job on the roof 7 weeks ago never mentioned this.

I'm going to have someone look at it near my daughter's when I get there next week, and get it scheduled, as it will only get worse.

[Lily&Me]

On a more positive note....tires are rotated and pressure checked, a bit early but it seemed the prudent thing to do.

I also now know where the brake fluid receptacle is, which was full...right there under the hood, not far from the coolant receptacle.

I can do this.

And, I am in the most beautiful site at this very nice campground...

[Lily&Me]

The service manager refunded me what I spent yesterday, in addition to what I paid for the roof in June....and, they're going to pay the bill to have it re-done next week.

I can't complain about that kind of resolution, but still...

Maggie

[Gearheart]

Good to see them make it right but what happened to doing it right from the beginning? Sorry to hear about your roof issues and glad they are being resolved.

[Lily&Me]

Yep....and water was running between the walls.

I'm more upset about the rust around that antennae, tho remember the roof was looked at last year, and they told me the caulk looked good/could wait to be replaced til the following year.

I have been diligent about dealing with any rust spots that I could see, and successful at that.

Who would have thought there would be rust on the roof.

And, if the caulk hadn't been a problem, and the tiny hole in the caulked seam behind the toilet, I still wouldn't know.

I should look at the bad caulk as perhaps a blessing in disguise....

Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Who would have thought there would be rust on the roof.

When the hole was drilled for the antenna AFTER the body was painted, no one painted the cut edge of the hole. Painted steel has a different galvanic potential than unpainted steel, so even if there was no actual leak, galvanic corrosion could still happen just from atmospheric humidity. And unfortunately, rusted steel has a different galvanic potential than unrusted steel, so once the corrosion started, it would spread, even UNDER the paint— as you can see in the photos. As the saying goes, rust never sleeps.

Lesson to be learned, when the body shop puts in a patch plate, and they drill a new hole for the antenna in the patch plate, make sure the edges of the new hole are painted as well! There should not be a single spot of unpainted steel anywhere on the patch plate, not even on the edges.