Looking For A Lull

So the house is a true mess.  The fix-it guys have been in and out tearing out floors, ceilings, walls, carpets etc, putting up plastic containment barriers and moving in big noisy machines.  It's nice to know that we could just take off to the camper and live there if we needed.  I would probably do that if I didn't need to be here to let people in/out while this process takes place. We've been assured all of this mess is covered, but strangely we have yet to see our insurance adjuster.  This mystery person that holds all of the answers as to where we go and how we get back to normal is nowhere to be seen. Oh, well,  It will all work out in the end.  Here are a few pictures of our fun so far. Workers in droves descended upon us. Parts of the house are sectioned off in plastic, like in E.T.! Our kitchen is out of commission, all of the floors have been removed and there are big dryers in there too. There are not plastic "Doors". ...

So we made it home and the water damage was pretty bad.  The kitchen flooring is bubbled, the ceilings in the basement have fallen and the carpet in the basement is a total loss.  I called the insurance company and it sounds like they are going to be pretty good to work with.  I'm a little apprehensive since this is the first claim I've ever had to file for homeowners insurance.  I'm hoping the process is smooth and we can get it all repaired.  What fun. That's the most action the elliptical has seen in a bit. What a mess!

It's been a busy week with work, but that is a good test.  Only a couple more days left on this trip and then we will start working on the next one. It has not been the smoothest of trips, or months for that matter.  The Donk got bit by something we think and had an allergic reaction.  She has not been eating right the whole time we've been here either so she has been a pretty miserable puppy.  We also found out that something leaked back at the house while we've been gone and we have a bit of water damage to contend with when we get home.  It's easy to get discouraged when you have so many things that go wrong in a short time, but we just have to remember that it's not always like this and just because everything isn't going your way at the moment life is still good. Sad puppy wearing her sock to cover her bug bite.

I can hardly make a trip to SW Michigan longer than a day without stopping by my favorite restaurant in the area and having a couple of beers.  This trip however, it only worked out that we could go on Sunday which you may know from past posts is when I normally would have brunch with my bloody mary. My favorite Michigan restaurant did not disappoint when it came to delivering a bloody mary, although state law made it so that it was delivered to my table precisely at noon at the tail end of my repast instead of when I began to eat at 11:45 AM. This particular restaurant though is not known for their bloody Mary's but rather their VERY robust selection of beers.  A separate menu for beer is available where you will find hundreds of different choices.  Join the beer club, take a few home, and try something different each time.  Many years ago I was introduced to Big T's in Lawton, Michigan and it was a regular stop for us when we lived in the area.  Now it i...

This trip we've been doing better with the food.  We've cooked almost every meal this week at the trailer with the exception of 1 rotisserie chicken we picked up and even then I still cooked the side dish. The combo of the grill and the instant pot really work well.  We can put both of them into play together and make some great meals.  The small grill works really well although it is easy to burn food on it, and we can use it under the awning if it rains.  We've not used it as much this week though, with the temperatures in the upper 90's and the humidity really high, there have been a few storms that have popped up that caused us to roll up the awning.  I don't grill in a downpour. All in all, we've picked up a few new recipes and even been eating a little more healthy!  It's really nice to sit outside and eat though, but the mosquitoes have been making that difficult at times but we manage.  The dogs really like being out for dinner too! Mak...

So I've spent the last few days working from the trailer and I have to say it's been pretty smooth.  First the cell signal has gotten better here over the last year and I have not had to use the WeBoost at all. I've been using my Sprint phone for hotspot and with a 50GB monthly limit on hotspot data, I've worked out that gives me around 20-25 days of work time.  Being that the phone has unlimited data to itself, we've been using it to stream Prime Video and Netflix, sharing the screen with the TV.  I still have the Google Fi hotspot to use too if I need it and in case of dire emergencies, I could relocate to the truck and use it's wifi. I want to experiment working at different locations in the trailer to see what will be the most comfortable and convenient.  I think next week I'll try putting a chair in the bunk room and setting the laptops up on the top bunk to see how that goes. My current work setup. Thinking about putting a chair on that ...

So the hitch did give me fits again. Not only was it hard to hitch up but it would not unhitch for anything. I tried, my buddy Shannon tried and we could not get it undone. Finally, after letting the trailer sit for a day or two, I stretched it again and yanked on the release and it came free. Yeesh, I'm going to have to report this and to Curt and see what their customer service is like. Aside from that we are enjoying camping here in Michigan at the "Tyler Lull Campground". Here is a pic from before I got the truck unhitched. We are much more level now that we are unhitched!

Getting ready for the Michigan trip.  I'm heading out to the Lake tonight to get the prep work done on Chappy.  Got to fill the tires, check the brakes, fill the blinker fluid etc.  Won't be long and I'll be able to report on how well Bodie tows and if the new hitch has any kinks that we find.  The hitch is still hard to get to lock closed and that worries me a little especially when I'm able to take a broom handle and get it to close with no problems.  I'm wondering if maybe the angle is bad or there are some other adjustments that I can make to make the process smoother, but for now it takes about 5-10 times, backing up, checking, pulling forward, backing up, checking, pulling forward rinse and repeat before it finally locks around the pin.  It's a pain in the behind. Oh well, we'll figure it out on the road I suppose!  That's half the fun!

When we had the hitch in Delilah put in I bout a cheap vinyl hitch cover to put over it to sort of protect it from the rain and the snow etc, but the down side of the hitch and the 5th wheel was that I had to take out my big truck box and that lost us a lot of storage. With Bodie I decided to forgo the cheap little hitch cover and since this new hitch is easily removed (stolen) due to the Puck system, I opted to have a bed cover installed to provide some security by obscurity and to keep it out of the elements. The added benefit is that when we are not tethered to the trailer we will have extra storage for groceries etc, that we don't normally have...and it looks nice! Nice and slick!

We went out to the lake for the weekend and set up camp with the Grandpuppy in tow this  last weekend.  Katia and Tony were on vacation and we were lucky enough to be able to take Serenity with us.  She did really well!  She gets along great with the Rocky and the Donk and they had a pretty good time. Chillin in the camper Serenity making herself at home I tried hitching up again while we were out there and it took about 10 minutes or so before the hitch finally bit on the kingpin.  I'm hoping that over time it will loosen up but I'm going to exercise it and lube it up a bit this week.  We're leaving for Michigan soon and I can't wait to see how Bodie handles on this trip. 

Well, we are gearing up for our much needed Michigan getaway!  We will have grandpuppy next week and then we will be heading out for a 5 hour jaunt to Michigan.  I'm excited to see how Bodie tows! I plan on practicing hitching up again when we go to the campground this weekend.  I'm hoping that my first attempt and it's difficulty will not be a normal thing and that there is some "Trick" that I'm overlooking besides repeatedly bashing the kingpin into the hitch. (Ok, bashing is not quite the right word but you catch my meaning.) I'm also exploring putting a bed cover on Bodie to keep the hitch covered when not in use and give us some more cargo space out of the rain when we are not hooked up to Chappie. This is what I'm looking at.  ~$300 I also need to really give Chappie a good bath.  I keep saying that I'll do it and then I don't.  The rain just isn't quite enough to get all of that road grime off. I'll have to take some ...

We were out at the campground this past weekend with rocky and the Donk, the house still feels empty without Sara.  Sara has been part of our family since 2006 when we were lucky enough to get her from the humane society in New York.  She was always a live-wire, so full of life and always had to be doing something. So smart.  I trained her to open the fridge and get me a beer in less than 2 weeks of her coming home with us and in turn she had us trained too.  She would herd visitors, kids, geese, cats, pretty much anything that needed herding or at least did in her mind. She hated rakes, loved bones, would swim and try to catch fish or frogs, and for years her favorite spot was to park in front of Karen or I.  She would break up fights between anyone and lick you when you felt sad and that is one thing that feels so strange!  I feel sad and have no Sara to console me. I'm not ashamed to say that the loss of my Sara is even harder than the loss I've fe...

After the sad week that we've had Karen and I decided to take it easy and go out to the camper for the weekend and just relax.  We didn't do to much of anything.  There were a few pop-up thunder showers and we overloaded the breakers running the air a few times, but we really needed to get out and away. The electric is installed in Michigan so we are planning to head up there in the next few weeks to stay for a little while and hopefully see some friends and family.  I'll have to work, but we've been planning it for a while and it will do us good to get out and get moving again.